There was something startling
in design. I could not pass.
No others of its kind adorned
the ground.  A bold brashness 
shone from this oval leaf,
a hybrid of color and desire, 
more maple red, than aspen gold.
There was no doubt its heritage
was Quaky, but why was it crafted
with ten golden feathers floating
on a crimson sea? Closer up, they 
looked like ferns inlayed gold to red
and red to gold. But sadly there 
was one crab-shaped blemish, almost 
perfectly positioned like a patch over 
a pirate’s right eye. The crowd of yellow 
leaves could not ignore the ugly scab.
It was an outcast, a radical beauty.
There was no grace to gaze beyond
the scar…