Beech Tree

The Beech tree in the park stands tall,
skeletal, the copper leaves in which it so lately
dressed itself form a carpet around it.
Only a few cling to lower branches,
like the hairs on an old person’s head. 

But now maturing beechnuts are visible,
against a sky threatening rain,
to be buried over the winter,
food for the squirrels that live here.
So we look forward to the spring
when those richly coloured leaves
will come again, the park full of life.

As the year begins to die, in November,
bare and grey, the cycle begins again.

by Sally Warrell
November 2025