LEAF FLOCKS

Leaf flocks turn up on bald branches,

Appearing overnight it seems—

Communal roosts that won’t fly away at dawn—

Filling in the blanks between heaven and earth

With rusty red and green quill feather strokes.

Leaf colonies stretch out across the forest floor,

Indistinct and unseen, at first—

Tendril drops hidden in a tree clump’s old carpet—

Threading their way over fallen decayed logs

With broad, embroidered green lines.

Leaf migrations follow strange routes,

Invisible expeditions without miles—

Journeys born of spring and foiled by winter—

Catching rain and hindering footsteps

With swaths of dense green words. 

©cmheuer, 2018