Naked

The leaves have fallen off the trees!
The trees are gray, branches
bare.
It happened suddenly, unexpectedly:
I was unprepared.
How could it be?
Yesterday
I could barely see the tree trunks–
now, every mole and knothole, each
fissure and lump, exposed. And
this nakedness, I know, is how
it will be, from
now
until the buds of Spring bloom
to Summer dresses.

Wayne F. Burke's poetry has been widely published online and in print (including in Dissident Voice). He is the author of eight published full-length poetry collections -- most recently Black Summer, 2021, Spartan Press. He lives in Vermont (USA). Read other articles by Wayne F..