This season's drought

One parched leaf upon the tree

Is all that breathes

The remaining life

That has been 

Drawn, sapped, racked

From the being

It flickers, faint,

Fearless and flagrant.

Crackling as the wind

Threatens its very stand .

Defiant in the face of summer

Defiant, yes!

And doomed

By the onset 

of the season’s march

Ineffable, inevitable

As summer turns to autumn,

The life already drained

Will stand no more.

And then, one night,

Or day

Or afternoon

Will tumble and will fall

Faultless, breathless

To land, who knows where,

Or when will rise.