One Day I Watched a Tree Shed All It's Leaves in an Hour

One day I watched a tree shed all it’s leaves in an hour.

It was a young tree..

It’s haste left me rooted to the ground

It was taking my speed

My need to get it done get it done get it done now

get there now

do it now

have it now

My ineptitude in the art of waiting

Or was I poisoning it?

My mere presence sapping this tree of it’s youth

Bulldozing it towards winter’s crisp grasp

i remember walking down the gravel path at your aunt's acreage.

the entrance is informal, merely a break in the bright red fence circumferencing her yard.

the paper birch trees hang limply over the walkway. their listlessness inspires a certain relaxation in us as we forget the world of parents, curfews.

the impending doom of september and the prison of ancient desks, smelly erasers and lined paper is forgotten. we disappear into the embrace of mother nature, playing at being our ancestors.

we are less then a stone's throw from the highway. it doesn't matter. we are simply lost in the forest, as far as we are concerned.

This is a Tragic Ending.

I see her standing there,

ice from her eyes

breaking on the sidewalk

Warm,

and forgotten,

you feel no pain.

I hold her and melt her tears with

my breath, full of assurances that

it's not okay

but it will be okay