Category Archives: POETRY

Scattered by unforgiving winds

leaves waver then flee the tree

overcome by icy blasts

they fall one-by-one

in an election in which they

were chosen to run.

Leaves litter the yards of dormant grass

left unwatered, to rest after last cuts.

Then, media blasts toss leaves in our face

as they race across the landscape.

We gather those lost leaves

like lost souls, in yard waste bags

to be placed by the curb for pick-up.

What happens to them there

is not ours to see.

Our yards suddenly seem free of their weight

upon the grass we hope to grow

when cold subsides and warmth returns

along with fertile minds who know

how to make our American garden grow.

Alas, too many leaves remain

caught among the roots and branches

of shrubs and dried-out garden stalks

which mark a yard’s boundary,

which catch them before they can flee

and hide them from our sight

where they shelter creepy-crawly things.

They also hide the weeds waiting below

ready to sprout and grow

where no gardener wishes them to be.

Rake out those sheltering leaves,

or let them rot and lie until they die?

Like fallen leaves we have no answers.

It is too cold to be outside

so we stay inside ourselves and hide.

We simply blow the way the wind blows.