breeze-tousled leaves
q u a k e
like spangles on a gypsy skirt

the windswept woods
dressed for autumn's ball
undressed by sleep's seduction
by the breath of wind's 
whispered desire

bereft of color
frivolity and delay
the trees
their dance cards spent

pose one last time
for winter's canvas

a still life—
ebony silhouettes
against an ivory sky

An earlier version of this poem first appeared in Quill and Parchment (2010).
This version © by Gail Goepfert and used with the author's permission.