flourish

by Melinda Burns

morning sun lights up
the one golden maple
in the corner of the yard
sets it aflame against
the blue October sky
as the season races past
a final flourish before
the bare branches of November
open up the view
and is that what aging 
could be, a surge of glory
before letting go
attachments loosening like
leaves falling, sky opening
could it be like that?

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From Flourish (Bookland Press, 2027), reprinted with the kind permission of Melinda Burns.