In her seventh year
a shiny, waxen leaf
torn by the wind
was cast at her feet
She placed it
between forefinger
and thumb,
and rubbed it, rubbed it,
chapter and verse,
until late afternoon
And into the rest of her days
she lifted
the green leaves
and the brown leaves
from the ground,
and puzzled
the stories and parables
of the sermons
of the sky