She mixes up some pails of color
and hands them to the elves.
September is less than ten days away.
Let’s give the red and the yellow a whirl.
and see how they look in the sun.
Let’s see how they mix, how they blend.
Don’t go crazy now; just do
this one tree—this one, where few
will notice. Try a few patterns,
some speckles, some stripes.
Leave a touch of green here and there.
That’s it. Good job. What do you think?
Are we ready to go? Let’s start
with the sumac and vines, okay?