Look how much more brightly the one leaf glows than the grass, which is eating light.

Leaves in a Small Wetland on the Grey Canal Trail

Its light-eating days are over.

But look how dull the leaf right next to it is. These are both leaves that have lain for a couple months under deep snow. Seemingly, leaves go through a process of dying, which continues long after they have fallen, and long after they have lost their colour. The fall colour for cottonwood leaves like this is a rich yellow, not a red, and yet red it is. Perhaps leaves have a life outside of photosynthesis? They have gone as abstract as thought. Perhaps our thoughts, too, are leaves.