ALIVE AND WELL

a dead leaf was on the table, at the outdoor café where
I sat down yesterday for a beer

it was a sycamore leaf, the first victim of the season as
I called it

did the wind leave it there, or the hand of a girl, a
Child?

it surely wasn’t the hand of a grown man,
I thought

that was a funny assumption from a man of thirty-nine years old
Who was sitting with a dead leaf in his hand

I threw it away wishing
I had a camera, but

that was a silly wish. Today I wish
I were a different man

one able to bring that sycamore leaf to you, or the whole tree
If you wanted it

alive
And well

::: ::: :::

[Picture: Captain Sycamore by reading_is_dangerous]