Autumn Tree

Autumn settles over a single tree,
Cleansing the soul of toxic leaves,
Peaks outstretched deep in green —

Through every climate it grows,
Untouched but not unloved,
Too sturdy to succumb to melancholy,
But sap too soft not to glow vulnerability.

It lives on like a human being,
An eminent end but repeated beginnings,
An everlasting but mortal living thing.