Lissa Fulton
Friend (A Sonnet to a Leaf)
When I was young I did not have a friend
So good as you who slept there on the ground
In the season after the summer’s end
Oh, joy when I your bright colors had found!
From the grey earth you caught my youthful eye
I picked you up and called you my true love
I spun you and kissed you and watched you fly
I held you between my heart and my glove
Your life I did not know was fading fast
You hid the truth beneath your vivid skin
And I could not know what would come to pass
As the cold air drained you dry from within
And many a friend I’ve had since that day
But your memory still vivid does stay
Melissa Fulton is a transfer student beginning her junior year at Mary Baldwin University after earning her Associates Degree at Central Virginia Community College. She is a double major in English and Theater, and student worker at Martha S. Grafton Library. She enjoys writing and painting/drawing in her few unoccupied hours.