Red Leaf

This morning walk

Feels like my sight returned

I didn't know I was blind

I've seen the leaves change

It's the backdrop of my memory

Cold Sundays, endless raking

My mother doing the work

Of ten men

Me, collecting the red leaves

For no reason except

To possess beauty for a day

But possession is temporal

My mom was a beauty

Like the brilliant red leaf

Forever in my memory

Shining in the sun