Leaf

Poem and photo by Mike Aspros
The Portland Upside
November 2009

A wind gust lifts
a maple leaf from its tree,
it hovers with clouds above the schoolyard,
falls like a heron to a pond—

skillfully without rippling the water.
The leaf lies face down
for many days,
far from the shadow of the tree.

The tree will always bloom new leaves,
but surely less yellow than these.


Mike Aspros is always wandering, looking, skirting the boundary line passing a “No Trespassing” sign following deer and owls through Oregon ash and white oaks. He may be reached at mike_aspros@yahoo.com