By the Summer’s Leave
Gabriel Duncan

Disappointment leaves a bitter after-taste
Like the slow, chilling wind, of autumn’s eve
Another summer past, another year gone by
Dried and cracked, fallen off the trees

Searching through the sticks and leaves
I find only the remains
Of seasonal amity
I trudge forward in the rain

Glancing past the fallen oak
There stands a maple tree
Whose earth has risen
Like a first place podium
Moting the forest below

I climb, clawing at the rocks and leaves
And lay gasping in its roots

Knotted in its belly
Juts a hollowed arm
I watch a cardinal sip from its pool
And take away no harm

As I stretch to take a drop
I hear you creak below
The promises of next spring
Disregarding winter’s blow

The maple’s gift is meager
I will always grow
The maple will someday dry, and die
And I will do neither

But, by the summer’s leave
What does shade mean to me
See, he tastes like you
Only sweeter