Autumn leaf dangles
from its slender stem
still attached
to the skinny limb
scratching its way
outward and upward
in ever-concentric rings.
Across its serrated edges
frost collects and expands
in a highlighted whiteness
against a golden background
like clouds forming
images in sunrise sky
until sunshine thaws
the outline, and the leaf
flutters a path to the ground.
The autumn leaf curls
into a fist brittle
with its siblings
even after wind whirls
it away to cling to fence wire;
a chrysalis awaiting
spring birth.
