One leaf left

"One leaf left"

The last Autumn breath
     slides it's soft caress
          across my face
               as it gives way
                    for the hard cold of winter's chill.

On the gentle sways of silence
               a painful gray hangs heavy
          on the icy air,
     And the trees are barren of all their leaves
except for one.

               I see this one leaf left.

My eyes gloss over
     as they hold still
on the delicate fluttering
               Of this single leaf,
at the edge of it's absolution,
                    clinging beyond the inevitable.

     This leaf,

holds and sways
     in defiance of winter's breeze,
and as winter waits
          behind a shimmering veil
of dancing light,
               my eyes cling to this single leaf.

I fight
     the swell of time
          that has begun to drip
     to the very end of my lashes,
to see this one leaf left.

A sharp cool wind
     swims in past the empty branches
          toward this last leaf.

Fluttering
     And
Flipping,
   
     Its stem is ripped away
          From it's home.
                                   My eyes shoot upward
                with this leaf,
                                   watching it dance
          across the sky
                    And as I do
         My tears finally
Begin to fall.

-Armando Torres