Ode to the Yellow Maple in Autumn

I see you there with your smells; gold and tawny

Your branches would uplift me, and your light filtered through me-

Your laughter filled me up to the tips of my skin-

Your visits a mixture of long and brief;

I held to your friendship and clung to your bark; wisdom; and life;

Generations would visit you and take in what you gave them; earth and freedom-

Lessons about kindness and gentleness were shared from under your leaf;

Nature spoke to us and life traveled around us-

Today you turn gold past the years into a gray;

We mourn, but celebrate the gold you gave.