POEM OF THE DAY BY ALLEN HEINRICH

Deciduous

A hundred leaves
litter the ground
for every kernel
their veins have
bled to fruition,
(seeds a cruel
attrition weeds
down to nearly nil)—

a condition
so akin to our
own spill of leavings,
(with all its failed
seedlings dust
among a more
fortunate flowering
few), reason may
well exist to believe
what follows
our fall
is a colorful season too...


-Allen Heinrich