Death By Any Other Name

Called 'dead leaf retention'

by those who spend their lives

naming things and processes.

But for me,

I see it as the gentle open

palm revealing the past year's

life lines and energy dances

in the summer wind.

I see it as the refusal

to leave that last curtain call

instead to hold hands bravely

in the sun's spotlight

even though the applause has ended

and the fans have long gone home.