A Yellow Leaf
By Alberto Ríos
A yellow leaf in the branches
Of a shamel ash
In the front yard;
I see it, a yellow leaf
Among so many.
Nothing distinguishes it,
Nothing striking, striped, stripped,
Strident, nothing
More than its yellow
On this day,
Which is enough, which makes me
Think of it later in the day,
Remember it in conversation
With a friend,
Though I do not mention it—
A yellow leaf on a shamel ash
On a clear day
In an Arizona winter,
A January like so many.
Copyright Credit: Reprinted from The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body, Copper Canyon Press, 2002, by permission of the author. Copyright © 2002 by Alberto Rios, a writer and professor at Arizona State University.
Source: The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body (Copper Canyon Press, 2002)