Winter Stripped Bare

The branches sway

On a windy day

Among helpless trees

The leaves

Do a dance of death

Like a stripper’s last striptease

As they fall to their fate

And autumn closes its doors

Winter wears a hollow stare

Grey clouds nip and bite

The ice cold air does not care

There’s menace afoot tonight

The mass of leaves that lie beneath

Resemble a giant wreath

Naked trees shiver and freeze

Some are bought to their knees

Doing a dance of death

Like a stripper’s last striptease.

© JMN2022