Poems by Patricia Fleming

I once wore the deepest, emerald green
inside a cluster of plush, verdant leaves.
I bowed from an ancient, magnificent tree
and fluttered and danced in a warm spring breeze

Then I sighed in the glow of the sultry sun,
thrilled that a new summer day had begun.
The birds hopped in glee as they woke one by one
and awakened the world as they twittered and sung.

I casted a welcome, magnificent sight
that sheltered and shaded from morning to night
I spied on sweet lovers in the dreamy twilight
and slept beneath stars twinkling and bright.

Then I swelled with pride in the rich, vibrant fall,
serenaded and soothed by the cricket's calls,
and draped in a golden, russet, shawl
I hung praised and admired by one and all.

I napped in the chill of the crisp Autumn air,
as squirrels gathered acorns strewn everywhere,
then I cried as the neighboring trees became bare
and thought how this life was so quick and unfair.

My moment had passed as I lay on that ground,
now withered and useless, decaying and brown.
I looked up at that tree standing naked and down
and recalled when our beauty could thrill and astound.

Though we all looked the same whisking there in the trees,
just a cluster of delicate, whispering leaves
our uniqueness may not be so easy to see,
I assure you there's no leaf in this world just like me.

But nature as life must go through its seasons,
we are born and we die for mysterious reasons.
But I had a good life, just as harsh as was pleasing
and I hope that the world will be grieved by my leaving.

Through endless months of bitter cold
there were no traces of you there,
the ground so hard and barren
even nature didn't care.

It felt like time had cruelly stopped
and you may never come again,
and the winter's melancholy
was never going to end.

Then in time the days grew brighter
and harbingers of spring appeared.
The sun blazed with a vengeance
in a sky dark blue and clear.

I sat in rapt anticipation
while you still played hide and seek,
cocooned within your bursting buds
you teased and taunted me.

They warned me to be patient
that such beauty would take time.
So, I sat beside you every day
while just your memory quenched my mind.

Then you came in vibrant colors
like a rainbow aft the rain.
I was hypnotized and mesmerized
at the sight of you again.

How I wished you'd stay forever.
even when the world grew cold
to remind me that true beauty
could still endure as I grew old.

And even when the summer ended
and you had long since passed away
thinking of my lovely lilies
would get me through those gloomy days.