October

Michael Richmond photo
Heart of Vancouver Island

October

is a sun-struck tree

blazing proudly, briefly,

orange and crimson,

whipped by wind,

buffeted by rain,

till she is

left naked,

unmasked,

except for one last, curling,

dead-brown leaf,

that clings tenaciously,

till it slowly, painfully,

loses its grip,

and lets go

into the cold, unforgiving greys 

of November.

For Magaly's prompt at Real Toads: turn October into a poem.