Best Leaf Poems
Floating down with grace and ease
Carried off by the Autumn breeze
Rich in hues of orange and red
Landing in the flower bed
What once was buzzing full of life
Now succumbs to the pruning knife
Staring up at the wilted rose
Another season comes to close
Looking for memories of this day
Not forgetting her fun filled stay
Lying amongst the rocks and sticks
I'm the one the little girl picks
Hurries home with the one she took
Placing it in her poetry book
8/05/2014
the raspy whisper
finally
gets my full attention -
wistfully I smile
..for its persistence reminds me of you..
the crisp red leaf
scuttles scrapingly
across the gray pavement
to and fro
like a dancing crab
moving with the whims of the winds
chasing me
as it seemed like I had once chased my dreams;
blown in directions left up to chance
..until I met you..
..is it now, as it was then
Destiny?
for in this instant, my sense of direction
seems predestined..
a smoky scent
spices the chilled blue air
reminding me of our cozy nights
curled with the fire
..entranced
as we were
with our warmth
and our flame..
could it be
love signals from the hearth
calling me home..?
..my soul
feels akin to the red leaf,
the wafting smoke
and I am ready to follow..
Would the cold atmosphere be so cruel
as to play capricious tricks upon my eyes... or
..is that really
YOU
standing there..?
Oh!
my beloved,
how my broken spirit
has suffered
in my pining desire to be with you -
I run to you!
years of yearning prayers answered
fingertips straining - stretching further
reaching out to touch you,
the whole of my being aching
to hold you and enfold you
..ah, I feel your heat
so very close to me..
Alas!
I fall to my knees,
my arms empty
but for the loss I carry..
your warm breath
on the nape of my neck
only my hot want
brewed with a cool wisp of the breeze
..Oh, God! Please!
just let it be
let me go..!
my forsaken flame less than a dying ember;
I but ashes in my grief
withered
in my autumn season
without you
still...
I’m slow to realize...
that your fading glow just the sun slanting low
blurring wicked whimsy with my wild sorrow
in the burning of these bitter tears.
Susan Ashley
December 2, 2018
~ First Place ~
Contest: NA the day away
Sponsor: Lu Loo
*N/A’d: Best Free Verse 2019 Poetry Contest*
~ Honorable Mention ~
Contest: Your Choice (2) Any Theme, Form
Sponsor: Brian Strand
~ Poem Of The Day ~
December 4, 2018
One leaf fell from a tall, tall tree
and subtly kissed gnarled roots beneath;
a lover’s kiss below sunned-sheath
of greenest leaves, a jubilee.
One spiraling leaf brought playful mirth
to sullen earth of trodden dirt.
A flight of hopeful shades of spring,
for hard, hard ground, an offering
One leaf dressed in a sparkling jade
glided with grace to green grass blades
and rested near a bubbling brook,
then waited for warm breeze that shook
its flirty skirt on green, green glade.
An arc of bright green canopy
warmed my heart in bluest mood,
and one leaf blew a kiss from you.
It twirled and pranced and floated by,
then with a touch it came to lie
green in my hand, a dear surprise.
Like emerald hills of Irish tales,
I marveled at how one leaf sailed
green In my hand that blue, blue day,
a kiss from you on Patty’s Day -
The gray clouds parted shining green,
a beauty like I’d never seen.
for Francine's Show Me the Green Contest, 3/18/15
Ah, weeping leaf I feel your grief
as Autumn hides the sun in clouds;
battalion’s shadow, like a thief,
disguised in dark-sky nimbus shrouds
have kidnapped light and your belief
in summer days of green serene,
when willow’s dance did celebrate
and morning’s mist, it’s blurry sheen
embraced your rippling blade ornate
till… winds then twisted serpentine
and soon you'll fall, I feel your plight,
a wistful tear your dreams now wan
as daylight dies into the night
and you let go, a wilting swan,
you realize you’ve lost the fight
…that you were just another pawn.
A citrine leaf in lingered lilt
did savor breeze of sapphire whisk
as Autumn’s honey-secrets spilt.
A hopscotch star.. an ember brisk,
she sighed and fell— then took her chance!
a citrine leaf in lingered lilt
with wind-a-whirl in saffron dance
below the western cirrus gilt.
Before the winds began to wilt
and aspen whispers rose a wail,
a citrine leaf in lingered lilt
did fly where camp-fire-clouds grew pale—
where songs are spun from angel dreams,
their rapture wrapped her like a quilt,
no longer needing rhinestone streams,
a citrine leaf in lingered lilt.
I watched it fall
In spiralling flight
This browned yellow leaf
A saddened sight
For not long ago
It was alive and so green
In a canopy of cover
Above the stream
I watched it meander
Around rocks and through eddy's
On the stream it continued
Becoming more unsteady
It's protective coating
Now a shadow of it's past
As the water moistens
It's out on it's last
It came to rest
Between two rocks
As the water cascaded
To the bottom it dropped
The end of it's life
But it's journey goes on
For nature will use
This leaf that roamed
.
We'll watch in awe and witness talking leaves
In multicolored hues their story told
With heavy heart their passing we will grieve
Their memory, like weather soon grows cold
So quickly through the glass our trickling sand
Twas yesterday spring flowers were in bloom
Today the autumn colors are at hand
Tomorrow deserts rise to windswept dunes
Yet with the winds of time the leaves will blow
Like sands and days, they'll fall and disappear
Their time on earth like ours from green to gold
Except for them, whose destiny was clear
The story of our life is like a leaf
Bring beauty to this world, however brief
September 16 2016
On the shadowed banks of river they sat together
Adulating setting sun quivering in rippling currents
Where golden filaments shimmered on blue water
Forming and breaking ephemeral circular motions
Undulating amber rays on eve’s buoyant emotions.
Her dimples smiled upon her visage of royal poise
Enticing him to probe her cheerful, enamored eyes
Mesmerizing as yet un-blossomed amatory dreams
As they raved of college, friends, late nights carefree
Exploring coyly maiden impulses of mature themes
Inflaming seductively, untrodden clues of fantasies.
Alas! those memories now~ dulcet still, but empty.
Never he saw her again on her side of the prairies
Strolling nonchalantly, engrossed in birds chirping,
No one standing there now to steal his glances slyly
Hiding behind notions of secrecy, at first meekly,
Though later, quite daringly, wantonly, frequently;
Elevating him unlike anyone else, before, or since.
Her last letter to him was cryptic, yet informative:
A rustic farm house, cow moos amid clucking sounds,
Boy and a girl, flower beds, and a dog named Duffy~
A simple life on landscapes lauding ancestral heritage.
He remembers well~ saying it, genuinely meaning it,
As movingly she indulged in life that could have been,
Awkwardly dropping hints, soon she’ll be married.
Yet, here she is now intimating, she too so loved him~
Validating his belief—though offering a mere fig leaf--
A vain gesture to convince him she honored his dream
Memorializing secret pact, living life in his blueprint:
Boy and a girl, rustic farm house, a dog named Duffy.
April 12, 2022
Poem of the day on April 14, 2022
Placed 1st: This or That, Vol 11 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Title chosen: Fig Leaf
Inspired by "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a leaf that falls,
unmourned, to the distant ground
I paused when I heard a far bird's calls
Magic I'd missed looking down--
royal Autumn leaves danced in gold and red.
This must be where my lonely heart has led.
Opened my eyes to this spellbound place,
and breathed air perfumed by pine.
Then sat near blossom with smiling face,
feeling thoughts and heart align.
I watched grass spinning beneath a tall oak;
heard whispered promises breeze softly spoke.
Head full of dreams, I wandered along
paths worn by many steps before.
Mountain larks welcomed me with a song,
I spied lilacs, bluebells, and more.
Around each corner, surprises await.
I feel my loneliness start to abate.
I happen upon a wayward creek,
sit and watch her bouncing spray,
Bubbling with laughter, just what I seek--
hidden by an oak overlay.
Untethered nature met unquiet heart.
Now I burst with song; can't tell us apart!
September 18,2022
for "I Wandered Lonely As A..." contest
by Natasha L. Scragg
Third Place
Poem of the Week
Quote: " I am the last leaf on the tree and the wind is blowing" --G. Hinckley
In the fading light of autumn's embrace,
A poet's pen dances, a tribute to grace.
An ode to the last leaf, resilient and strong,
A symbol of endurance, a theme of the song.
While the valley and the hills have transformed into colorful space,
You, the last leaf, linger in this desolate space.
You have watched the vibrant dance of leaves with the wind,
Their colors ablaze, a spectacle to rescind.
Caterpillars transformed, to butterflies they soar,
Yet here you remain, grounded, yearning for more.
Eagles circle overhead, a somber sign,
Of your impending fate, a destiny entwined divine.
All other birds have taken flight, left youe behind,
Locked in solitude, with thoughts unkind.
You await the mighty gust, the breath of release,
To set you adrift, to grant you peace.
Like the cycle of life, uncertain and vast,
You ponder your fate, as each moment goes past.
When you finally descend, to the earth below,
You will join the chorus of leaves, in nature's grand show.
In that final moment, you will be free at last,
No longer confined by the seasons that gone past,
For in the end, like the leaf in the fall,
We all return to dust, surrendering to the call.
Walking alone down the leaf covered lanes,
the ground is still damp from Yesterday's rain.
A cathedral of trees tower overhead,
with colors of Fall that haven't yet shed.
Now in this moment when Winter arrives,
the cold wind blows and the chill is alive.
The very first snowflake floats from the sky,
falls on my face like a tear from my eye.
Winter's lace begins to blanket green pines,
every neighbors' yard and rooftop it finds.
The smoke starts to drift from the chimney stacks,
while snow covers any trace of my tracks.
Resting near a warm fire I'll remain,
dreaming of my day on leaf covered lanes.
12/2/18
of dizzy autumn
in dark honey reflection -
were kissed by plum lips
The last gold leaf hangs on the bough;
summer is just a memory now.
You, too, have gone, my golden friend;
our summer days came to an end.
We said goodbye; our chapter closed.
How I will miss you no one knows.
On eagle wings you split the skies;
your spirit soared. You had to fly.
My earthbound soul will bear its grief
severed from you on mortal reef;
but returning from yonder shore,
your love in waves will wash me o'er.
You've gone before, my trusted love;
I wait behind, your mourning dove;
yet, from across the great divide
your voice to me in dreams confides.
No, I think not that dreams they are;
but communion of the near with far.
On such sweet songs I stake my claim
to know and love you once again.
Copyright, 1987, Faye Gibson
I see you there in forest deep
When the world is still asleep
You ...the defiant one
With your hardened backside
Turned to me
And I ... hearing through frozen ears
The cracking whispers that you speak
Before you fall in utter silence
The last leaf of autumn
At my feet
muddy, dying pond
green confronts cloudless blue sky
my dog sniffs and snoops