Last Leaf

“I would always look up and wonder if I would be blest to see the last single leaf holding on-“ —gracegardenpoems

This was truly the last leaf

from the bur oak tree,

a hold from our memory

of a green and lush spring

under a sky as blue

as the Bay at Naples,

and the quiet escape

to a tiny garden

that sleeps in autumn, 

but we walk 

in the fallowness

of mulching leaves

and hibernating trees

that still wait for us,

holding out their strong

limbs in a perpetual 

longing to call us again 

into a cooling green, 

welcoming us into

their sheltering leaves.

—C.L. Fisher in collaboration with gracegardenpoems, January 2022

*see the short story The Last Leaf by O. Henry for a better understanding of the line in boldface.

Unless otherwise indicated, all writings and images are the work of C.L. Fisher and may not be copied, used, or distributed without permission.