Through the Thick Glass

A heavy brass magnifying glass was resting flat across an open garden notebook. Pausing at the edge of the cedar table, I peeked down through the curved lens... and gasped a tiny breath. A dry elm leaf pressed beneath had completely transformed. Its slender golden veins suddenly looked like giant, glowing riverbeds winding across amber plains. Curious to see even deeper, I curled the supple tip of my ribbon feeler around the cool brass handle, gently tilting the rim upward. The tiny fuzzy fibers along the leaf margin bloomed into soft velvet forests in the midday light. A whole hidden world, right there in one little crumb of autumn.