Notes About The Poem

[This poem was first published in "The Soul and the Singer," Young Publications, 1969. It was included in my first chapbook, "The Lady in the Pink Hat," Candor Press, 1969.]

What Wind Cannot Respect

What wind cannot respect a dying leaf
Whose gentle whisp goes on a raging spree
And rips the fading foliage from a tree
Then tears away without a faint remorse
Nor stops to mourn with stricken bough
Nor hears the barren pledge a solemn vow
To save next autumn's golden child,
But slashes on to raid another's arm
And set another writhing in alarm
What wind cannot respect a dying leaf
Whose presence only serves a bitter grief.

FIRST PLACE WINNER
Brian Strand's "All Yours" Contest
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Copyright © | Year Posted 2021


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Date: 4/17/2021 12:29:00 AM
This is outstanding. One of your best I have read. So far. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Rama
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L Milton Hankins
Date: 4/17/2021 7:59:00 AM
Thank you, Rama, for your kind and generous remarks on my poem. I appreciated what you wrote very much.
Date: 4/16/2021 10:36:00 PM
Outstanding! Congrats on your win, Milton!
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L Milton Hankins
Date: 4/17/2021 7:58:00 AM
Thank you, Unseeking Seeker.
Date: 4/16/2021 1:27:00 AM
That blew my mind...
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L Milton Hankins
Date: 4/16/2021 8:04:00 AM
Well, thanks, Shirley, for the read and the kind reaction.
Date: 4/15/2021 9:30:00 PM
This is so vivid, how the wind shows no remorse for the fragile beauty of autumn, or respect for the bitter grief of dying, quite evocative~
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L Milton Hankins
Date: 4/15/2021 9:42:00 PM
Thanks for the read, Michelle, and the thoughtful comment.
Date: 4/15/2021 10:10:00 AM
A great piece L.M Hankins! Nature's unpredictability is the twists and turns of life's confounding reality. Thanks for sharing...Anselmo Boles
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L Milton Hankins
Date: 4/15/2021 1:32:00 PM
Thank you, Anselmo, for the read and the thoughtful comment.
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