Leaves of Gold

It idly sat in the sunlight;
A golden adornment for a barren yard,
From which Summer’s war left unmercifully.
As a god does salvage the earth, so did this lone tree,
Birthing from its branches treasures for the eyes to behold.
Yet much unlike an immortal entity,
Such life falters when the spoiled adornments descend to their graves,
And Winter’s pervading air steals an abundance of nature’s most priced artifacts.