A Life of Leaves

My friend and I were talking about the weather and how it relates to his business. He said, "This time of year, my life is all about leaves". I said, "That would make a great poem title". He informed me that he recently bought lots of burlap drawstring bags to haul off leaves. These bags and the dupping fees are a great part of his expense. This area has lots of trees that are greatly needed during the summer months, and trees help control pollution. According to Treepedia, our green city is the 2nd most treed city in the US. My friend is doing a great service to his community as well as making a living involving leaves. At the outset of our conversation, I liked the sound of 'My life is all about leaves'. I had a feeling that a poem was being born but wasn't sure until today that the inspiration to write about my friend and his leaf life was forthcoming. I must say that originally, it was not my intention to 'be poetic' about all the hard work my friend does in keeping our streets, gutters, and lawns in our community free of leaves. And how was I to know that his words would trigger the poet in me? Today, I asked myself the question, "Why do leaves fall, and what if they didn't fall?", which led me to brief research about leaves and trees.* What I discovered in my research was a rather simple answer relative to 'why', but I was informed that the process is not as simple as it appears. For example. Leaves fall off trees in the Fall so that the trees can survive the winter, but it is said that 'the falling' is not as passive as it seems. In fact, the tree is actively 'pushing' the leaves off the branches. How about that! All these years, I thought the 'falling' was all about the wind blowing the leaves. Who knew? Perhaps my friend already knows this, but "Certainly not I", said the uninformed me. 121019PoSoupContest, Strand Select 6, Brain Strand, HM *According to Highlights Kids and NPR, "The changes in weather and daylight trigger a hormone that releases a chemical message to each leaf that it is time to prepare for winter. Over the next few weeks, abscission cells form a bumpy line at the place where the leaf stem meets the branch. And slowly, but surely, the leaf is “pushed” from the tree branch. ..... In spring and summer, leaves convert sunlight into energy in a process we all know as photosynthesis. And so now we know. Leaves fall—or are pushed—off trees so that the tree can survive the winter and grow new leaves in the spring".