Notice us,
clothed in bronze and cayenne,
dangling, wailing,
hanging by stems
Free us
from sapless limbs
Allow us to float
on raspy breaths of autumn
Watch us
whirl, twirl, and dive
toward earth’s brown breast
on drifts of fall’s breeze
Let us
lie with our kindred dead
on umber grass, to slumber
among gray twigs
Grant us
peace and repose,
becoming compost
knowing we will live again