stray edge
Light spills and breathes through the thinning branches,
Each leaf drifting down with a warming glow,
They float along the air’s wandering current,
Folding into earth that waits below.
They curl and tremble upon the earthen base,
Shivering as a cool breeze glides past,
Soft light traces their pale hazel features,
Fading swiftly in the cold wind’s blast.
Subtle sorrow sighs are swallowed by the gales,
Memories of once-living colours, now crimson.
The brittle bones above watch the spillage
And stain the untamed earth below.
Beside them, a poppy lies upon rough soil,
Its head bowed in solstice over a weathered stone slab,
Engraved with faint names long forgotten,
While we notice rows of unknown slabs—each the same,
Resting beside crinkled crimson leaves on cracked earth.
grim oasis