Shades of a Leaf, a poem

The red has been in
the leaf since its conception
waiting
for the bright sun to
dim
for the right amount of
rain.
Waiting.

Then.
Then.
On a certain day
not long before the leaf
will fall
not long before it returns
dust to dust to
mulch.
Then
the green fades
giving way first to yellow
then
to orange.
Then the red
that has always been
there
waiting
emerges along the
veins and the
edges
pushing to the rest of the
leaf.
Pushing and
bleeding
until the whole leaf shines
with waxy
red
brilliance.