A Soothing Darkness

Painted on the petals of trees

That shift passively in accordance to the breeze;

Raindrops magnifying the cooling glow

Until they eventually roll off the edges;

Shadowing a floor of graying sediment

As the sun blazes over ominously;

Rough branches grazing against the fuzz,

Scraping off richness in slight segments;

Attacked mercilessly by crawling critters

That greedily devour their lavish bodies;

Thriving resiliently in their havens,

Deep and intense and alive.

Then Autumn decides to come.

It urges these gems of nature

To transform into tawny, fragile flakes.

Hanging limply from their constant twigs,

The flakes become so crisp and wrinkled

That they suddenly snap.

Descending slowly from their origins

With no choice but pitiful acceptance,

They flip and swirl and reel

Until finally reaching a piece of solid earth.

Settling precariously on the graying sediment, 

They gradually shrivel into specks of dust,  

Becoming the land which they once kept cool.