Abscise
The tree too turns
inward, and the eyes
of the leaves harden.
Green subsides
to what's been hidden,
xanthophyll, anthocyanin
flare on a short fuse.
Cells in the abscission zone
diminish. Weak now the link
between leaf and tree.
Let go in the wind
under rain. And the tree
smooths the scars
of all that
departure.
Marilyn McCabe’s poetry has won awards through A Room of Her Own Foundation, The Word Works, Grayson Books, the NYS Council on the Arts, and Adirondack Center for Writing. Read more.