All through cicada summer
The leaves above my house like gossiping angels had sweet arms to cling to--
All along, they had the life May woke them up to,
And cardinal birds to sing them through the long sultry days.
All through July and August, the leaves looked down at the simple ground
With haughty superiority, unearned, a lucky gift--
Then the tree fell in love with October and sent her sugar no more,
Leaving the wind-turned leaves bereft.
In time,
Down
Down
They fall,
To Mother Earth whom they had scorned.
My young friend and I come to rake them--
We take them away
As though they'd never been born.
________
Such super imagery
ReplyDeleteyou've given season life!
ReplyDeletewe all fall down.
ReplyDeleteI adore "cicada summer." That is just gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThis was quite lovely, Shay -you're so versatile!
ReplyDeleteI miss the chatter in the winter...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Shay.
Hard to write a completely original poem on a topic that's been fodder for us word-picking vultures for centuries, but I do believe you've found a way to do it here. Vanity among the botanical life-forms--who knew? Excellent abundantly alive take on a rote theme.
ReplyDeleteI love it. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh I so love this. The title is wonderful, "like gossiping angels had sweet arms to cling to" is just BEAUTIFUL - and so new - the whole love, then no more sugar concept is so original. And then down they fall and are taken away "as if they'd never been born." Absolutely wonderful in every single way.
ReplyDeleteDitto on all that was said above! Just lovely...
ReplyDeleteI hate to see the end of the leaves. We don't do a lot of raking here, except for the ginkgo. They don't seem to want to blow away on their own.
ReplyDeleteThis made me cry. It is sososososo beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnd, now, on the topic of "falling" and things that are worth falling for, you must visit THIS POST by one of the most beautiful bloggers out there (she should be, but so far has not been, widely appreciated....)
Pride comes before the fall, I hear. Guess that works even for the "cocky" leaves...nice spin on fall :)
ReplyDeleteThis one reminds me of a summer love...here today, gone tomorrow, as if it had never happened. ¡Buenísimo!
ReplyDeleteOh how I have missed reading you Shay :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful as always.
I am baaaaaaack! :)
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving...bkm
ReplyDeleteNow, Ij'm sad.
ReplyDelete:)
Absolutely lovely, Shay. Probably the sweetest best poem on autumn leaves ever written. Gossiping angels, like they'd never been born. Devastationaly dusted with timeless longing, your words.
Still can't believe we get all your brilliance == for FREE?? Unheard of with you high-end poets, I do believe.
xoxo
I, for one, prefer to play in them and stuff them... crushing and crunching them beneath my feet as I walk, shuffling them up with my toes and listening to the crinkle-crink... even the dead make noises and entertainment...
ReplyDeletegreat visuals here.