BRANCHES AND TWIGS

The annual shearing of the trees in temperate zones

Coincides with cold winds and long nights,

Synchronizes with axis tilt and color changes, and

Staggers the fallout across the breadth of days.

Tentacled trunks, stripped lean and spare,

Proffer their leafy harvest in a cyclic exchange of

Quid pro quo with the earthen underground table and

Stretch their branches and twigs in a yawn upon awakening, 

From a deep sleep beneath the leaves’ thick cover.

Deciduous trees throw off their spring and summer spawn;

Layered and woven by wind and rain, the dark russet

Blanket slips and falls across the soil’s girth.

And from every tower grown upwards in the search for a sun

Beyond an earth-bound reach, each branch and twig

Is another intention sprouted, a slightly different decision

Born at an angle from the others and joined

In a circular maze upon the breached air.

Their stark ambition exposed in the harsh winter months

Their suppliant offerings refused and fallen,

Their lined palms extended in a bow to the cold winds.

© cmheuer, 2014