Oh What A Tree

By Charles C Gaines

The north wind blew hard and cold, screaming 
over the mountains, swirling through the hills 
outside Denver. Hardwoods and evergreens
walled the backyard of the farmhouse,
sentinels lined against the frosty fence rails.
Sworn allies, standing tall, no doubt
that together they could ever fail.

Massive spruce, dusted by the first snow.
Tall maples, bereft of leaves, only able
to save tattered red shards on the limbs below.
There in the center, between the spruce and the maples,
a glorious yellow tree, every leaf still in place.
A glowing gold flame midst the forest wall,
shimmering saffron while the bitter gale rages.

Two days later. Gone is all the glimmering gold.
Not one yellow leaf remains on a twig. Every last one 
buried ‘neath a deep blanket of frosty snow.
Despite the valiant fight, winter has won.
Yet in my mind’s eye, I most clearly see
the grand golden maple, bright as the sun.
Fall’s last fallen warrior, but oh what a tree!

Charles C Gaines is a recently retired former gunfighter, school teacher and coach,
general dentist living in Fort Worth, Texas. At 73 years of age, he has begun to take
seriously a life-long love of poetry, writing on a wide variety of subjects that capture his
attention.