Fall

The leaves are turning color,

from green to orange and rust and red.

The big maple which has seen these seasonal changes for some two hundred years stands solid for another year allowing gray squirrels

to crawl

around its appendages hiding nuts and other sustenance in the crevices and cracks. It does it’s best not to appear weary, but smaller branches splinter and to the ground

fall from high winds off Ontario.

Aging trees are always in danger of destruction from fearful humans seeking protection from woody weight of weak branches.

Danger of a parked car getting crushed beneath a severed trunk of a tree overrules the right of a tree that has earned the right to just be.

The sound of chainsaws sends a shiver through the souls of xylem and phloem. Fall leads to fall.