Incremental Poetry ~ 55 Lines

So Leaf Subsides

leaves of crimson fall
upon the still lake’s surface—
steeped like autumn tea

Who told you that you had to go?
Why fade and fall from yonder tree?
I hoped that you would stay to see
the coming of the winter snow.
Your gold of green could not long stay;
God made you for diversity.
You thought yourself a nobody—
I watched you change from day to day.
And such a handsome thing you were!
surpassing peacock feathery,
with scent of something leathery—
the fragrance ‘minded me of myrrh.
Just how you go from green to red
will always be a mystery;
it’s autumn, yet you’re Christmassy,
preparing for your winter bed.
And on a day when sky was blue,
you danced upon the breeze, carefree;
and as you fell, you waved at me,
for you had watched me watching you.

Sitting here, staring at the sapphire lake
bejeweled with leaves of garnet,
emerald,
citrine,
and agate,
I think to myself:
How wealthy you are just now,
to be surrounded by all these gems—
precious sight,
soon to be
a precious memory . . . .
Then the crystal
surface of the lake
calls attention to
clouds of diamonds
displayed on a background
of lapis lazuli.
My eyes turn upward,
away from the steeping leaves
and the image of sky,
to behold, hidden
behind barren branches
of obsidian trees
a moonstone
not yet ready to show his face
I watch him change too,
from day to day,
and night to night.
He reminds me
that though autumn is here,
and winter not far behind,
spring’s gold of green will come again.

Copyright © 2020 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I share the week before. I have no idea how long I’ll keep this up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Thank you for stopping by.

Scansion:
Rhaiku
Invented by Matt on AllPoetry.com.
Consists of 1 stanza of rhyme + 1 stanza of haiku + 1 stanza of free verse.
The rhymed and free verse stanzas may be of any length, and the rhyme is at the poet’s discretion.
Evidently, the stanzas may also appear in any order.
Length varies.