Young spring green leaves
Leading the charge to the sun
Hauling wood up branches
Sucking sap from underground
Clustered thrusting skyward
Green fingered branchlings
Building trees with not
so much a ‘by your leave’
Whole hillsides of relatives
As old as any man living
Standing naked together
Feigning death all winter
Before budding cheekily
Delicate explosions to herald
Young spring green leaves