this fall, When the pumpkins tHicken out eAst, vines unfurling—ensnaring, when the wind cools, grows harsh because of the norTh, & wHen the sun begins to plummet fAster in the sky, there will be a correlation between discarded leaVes & sister. havE you ever wondered why trees shed their leaves, one by one, to fall to their joYless graves? i searched fOr the answer for the longest time before saying oUt louD, it’s because they’re tired, aren’t they? think about it. a leaf is a thin, cut-out piece Of sugar & green. by itself, one can float on air & twirl aloNg with the brEeze as their invisible partner. but even air has weighT. & when you have thOusands and thousands of weightless leaves, theY suddenly become weight. how tired dO you think trees are, how sore are their arms, bearing them for five, six months? without them, trees can stand a little taller. feel a little lighter. leaves are a bUrden—a problem. so they thRow away their leaves. they let them go. they loSe the weight. maybe they do this angrily. or maybe it’s with rElief. but i see, in sister’s eyes, the effects Loss has on her. her face thins, bones surface from inside, & liFe leaks out as if there are holes in her body. sister’s loss makes her lost. don’t you know? once trees abandon their leaves, winter settles in those desolate branches & winter aches. there is nothing but pale, sickly death.