Leaves

I leave the road
wandering deep
into the big woods
needles soft beneath
my soles

Moss creeps
along northern trunks
Maple seeds helicopter
to the forest floor

A branch scrapes
my cheek
the red line
rises up in memory
marked for a time

Balancing on a rock
My childhood spirals
Up like a snake
from the damp lichen

I jump
tumbling into leaves
laughing
as fragments
season my face and hands