"One Leaf left"

The last Autumn breath
slides it's soft caress
across my face
as it gives way
for the hard cold of winter's chill.

On the gentle sways of silence
a painful gray hangs heavy,
on the icy air,
And the trees are barren of all their leaves
except for one.

I see this one leaf left.

My eyes gloss over
as they hold still
on the delicate fluttering
Of this single leaf,
at the edge of it's absolution,
clinging beyond the inevitable.

This leaf,

holds and sways
in defiance of winter's breeze,
and as winter waits
behind a shimmering veil
of dancing light,
my eyes cling to this single leaf.

I fight
the swell of time
that has begun to drip
to the very end of my lashes,
to see this one leaf left.
A sharp cool wind
swims in past the empty branches
toward this last leaf.

Fluttering
And
Flipping,
Its stem is ripped away
From it's home.
My eyes shoot upward
with this leaf,
watching it dance
across the sky
And as I do
My tears finally
Begin to fall.

-Armando Torres