Whisper

The soil brittle and dry, desiccated in my wasteland, the dust soared high on the wings of summer wind, surging on the canopy of the lone magnolia tree, I nurtured with love for many years. The dust storm scraping the sands of listless time rose from the edge of the dusky horizon of strife, swept away the dislodged leaves. In their rustle I heard them whisper … “catch us, hold us before we disappear”. Through the dust of despair swirling to nowhere the last rays of the twilight sun filtered, its spectrum soaked the vestiges of soiled dreams, clutching them I chased the drifting mirage, that morphed into the fallen leaves, flying away from my defoliated magnolia tree, boughs then bare and unburdened. Across the melting shadows of the clouds adrift, through the golden beams of the setting sun, I soared on the wings of the wafting wind to catch the fleeting leaves that took away all my dreams, I blossomed in my magnolia tree. At the fringe of my garden’s fading landscape I heard the rippling wind whisper to me… “you’ll catch them beyond the twilight terrain”. _______________ Written : June 13, 2020 February 6, 2023 2022 Poetry Marathon Qualifiers' FINAL Placement Poetry Contest Sponsor : Mark Toney