Leaves Valentine

Its leaves are so large and long
It can only afford a dozen or so
Which appear out of one another
The stem hidden inside
So just as a new bud forms
A leaf at the bottom begins to shrivel
As long as it lives it maintains
This refined equilibrium
From which a kind of dancing
Might later develop except
Sooner or later it sends up a shaft
Its decision to bloom
So long worked on
Though it spells its doom