LEAF OUT

* been a long time since I did this.......1 poem in 3 forms

I rest against a poplar tree
on a small bluff above a creek
a spot I visited last week
where I go to seek serenity
and escape the jostling crowd

Seven days ago I sat in sun
beneath tall monarchs bare of leaves
no rustle stirred by wandering breeze
ere the leaf out had begun
unmuffled sounds seemed clear and loud

Trees now have no need to blush
for they have new spring clothes to wear
of varied green shades everywhere
all donned in a nervous rush
nudity now disallowed

So now I sit in mottled shade
which will remain throughout the fall
when summer turns to harvest's ball
both in wood and scattered glade
in which lone pines stand so proud

-free verse-
Weary of bland winter woods
and the jostle of too many people
I retreat to a favorite place
to unwind a week of tension

One mere week ago
this bluff sat awash in sun
and sounds from far away
were clear and undiminished
by leafy clutter

But now instead of winter stillness
and uninterrupted gray of limbs
every shade of green has come
to reclothe the naked trees
thus providing sudden shade

Which I now sit within
and will do so in next visits
until the leaves once more
slowly striptease the trees
next fall

-Haiku_

The sun of last week
now overcome by new leaves
as spring takes over