Deep summer heat,
A leaf begins to ****
The green color
From its edges,
leaving a chapped
                    tip.
Moments pass
Slowly, the leaf is full
Of a winter colored crack
that splinters on the surface
Just enough
to reach the stem.
Cooler winds blow,
The leaf wanes
Until the last of its hydration
Has evaporated.
This tree’s feather
Floats haltingly down,