Yellow Leaves in June

Cottonwood Tree in Spring (1943)
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 - 1986)
[some other renditions]

Barely June

I stopped short on the sidewalk
and went back to the peonies,
bowing low from last night's downpour.
I had passed them with just a glance.
Now I lifted a bedraggled blossom
to my nose, inhaling damp perfume.

Who was I to ignore pale pink peonies?
I should know by now that if I look away,
beauty may not be blooming when my gaze returns.
The lilacs have turned to rust, and orange goblets
that were poppies are now folded tissue.

It's barely June, yet waiting for me
on my doorstep this morning
was a yellow cottonwood leaf.

by Francine Tolf
in her book Spill Some New Brigtness

Or these magnolia leaves . . .

Many thanks
to Contemporary American writer Francine Tolf
for allowing me to share her poems on my blog:
on The Fortnightly
on The Quotidian Kit
on Kitti's List

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