Dear leaves,
I’ve come to gather you
I’m not concerned about the grass beneath,
I don’t need tidy strips of even green
It’s you I’m here for

I had hesitated
because I love how
when you fall
you carpet swaths of ground with brilliant red
I didn’t want to take the feast away from others
But I know the crew will come
with leaf blowers
and mulching mowers —
You’ll be gone anyway,
They won’t mind my intervention

So I rake you up
and then I gather you with my hands
admiring your prodigious flame
thanking you
for the earth gift
I’ll bring you to bestow
upon my garden.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 6, 2014