One Poem by Sheila Tucker

 

carpe diem

 

hey, little brunette leaf

yes, you—at the end of yonder twig

why wither from healthy

jade so soon?

it’s barely end of summer

your bough’s sisters still

pert and plumply verdant.

you—thinning, rusting

 

it’s the fate of all leaves

but your sisters seize the day—

they dance with the Sun

God while still able

whilst you striptease, fling

aside your green lace

lay bare on the bough

 

lying in wait for your new master’s thrusts

waiting

vita brevis

 

do join in the dance

Sheila Tucker was, most recently, an editor/graphic designer for an international company. Now retired after 40 years in the workforce, she has more time to write. Her poems, essays and short stories are published in anthologies, newspapers and e-zines. She is currently writing and illustrating a children's picture book. Her 2019 happy-sad-funny-mad memoir, Rag Dolls and Rage, was about the trauma of her childhood and how she eventually healed herself. Born in the UK, Sheila now lives with her husband in Canada, near to Lake Ontario.