my gingko
of origins that rise
from lands of jade
with fan-shaped leaves
so fittingly displayed
a crown of yellow foliage
fills my view
so strikingly
against a sky so blue
then suddenly they fall
without a sound
yellow leaves now drifting
to the ground
a skirt of gold
now lying at my feet
a treasure where the
earth and heaven meet
in nakedness your winter bones laid bare
your massive furrowed trunk
left standing there
a monument of centuries gone by
this living fossil rising to the sky
by Sylvia L. Mattingly
November 12, 2020
Crooked Creek by Sue Mattingly 