Abscission 

Look it up, search, find abscission.
         There is a name for everything:
         platitude, limerence, lice
         Pythagorean Theorem.
         So many things and so many names.

         Not long after we are born we learn
that everything has a name
         and we begin to say them,
         call things by their names to
         bring them magically to us.

        The name of the stem that holds the leafy
part to the tree branch bears the name petiole.
        Maybe it doesn’t matter so much the name, 
        until you feel the inexhaustible pull of the world 
        yourself, and realize the impossible strength
        it takes to hold on, and keep connected
        through the seasons and all the changes
        in the weather: wind and rain, and hurricanes.
        So, the petiole exists.
 
Things that make such a difference 
        have names you want to pronounce correctly 
        and teach your children, whom you have named.
        And when the fall comes, and the petioles 
        take part in the leaf abscission,
        we stand in wonder of the changing colors,
        admiring the emptying trees as they accept their loss 
        almost as if they had a choice.