Slowly come the leaves
"Coming to woods in light spring rain,
I know I am not too late.
In my week
of walking down from the White Mountains,
I dreamt I might die before
familiar woods woke me.
Come slowly,
the way leaves come, I’ve arrived at
their turnings: from bronze, gold, wine
to all greens….''
--From “Coming to,’’ by Philip Booth
"Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.''
-- "Nothing Gold Can Stay,'' by Robert Frost