The leaves are shuttling down today
like plunging into bed at night:
though most are dropping, some hold up
a celebration of their fall.
Is it that trees are facing death
by dropping limbs? No. They re-birth
within a circle’s trick of growth
expanding out a ring each year.
But now a wooden tree stands forth
against a blue November sky.
Time to grow, remember why:
death is birth, is death, is birth.
Ah, the tree and all its wisdom. As Richard Wilbur notes in "Advice to a Prophet,"Ask us, ask us whether with the worldless rose/ Our hearts shall fail us; come demanding/ Whether there shall be lofty or long standing/ When the bronze annals of the oak-tree close."
ReplyDeleteReally like this one!
ReplyDeleteTrees! I love them too. Organic antennaes that maintain the conversation btwn earth & the celestial unknown. You write seemingly simple things (at 1st glance) & you know when to stop. I don't strain to read your poems. The fact that you can put them out with the auto device helps - it's always there. & Those Excellent jewels of quotes from other poets is ingenious. Sorry, blabbering. Love the Walt quotes. Thanx
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the fall...i think thats why they named a season after it...Eva Cassidy does a version of "autumn leaves" live that captures that mood perfectly..its on utube if you care
ReplyDelete