Illusion

It wasn’t the light, but leaves
that stopped me in my tracks

by gilding the path ahead.
It wasn’t a fleck of sun

falling through the trees,
but flecks of the trees themselves

fallen. And I had fallen
for it, the sylvan mirage.

Pressing on, I passed
through the illusion as though

stepping behind a curtain;
and night was coming on.

So by the time I cleared
the woods surmounting the hill,

the sun had already stepped
behind the low horizon.

And I watched from above
as stars appeared to bud.