Protruding from a branch was a leaf. A leaf
Out of the ordinary to my child-like eyes.
The greenest green I had ever seen. The most
Wondrous shape a leaf could make. The most
Perfect stars. More perfect than the night sky.
I thought such a creation was only concocted
In movies; created for dinosaurs longing
For food. Not for me to stumble upon its
Beauty. The leaf, this tree, became my favorite
Tree. A staple of my childhood. A gateway
For a flood of memories. Each nightly walk,
My father would reach up and pick a leaf
From the tree and place it in my youthful hands.
I didn’t know then that I needed to cherish
Such a small token. A token that is now a
distant memory.