En.Citatepedia^®.ro

Bridge, The

I once
as a young boy
stood on a little
wooden country bridge;
tip-toed to look at
the languid moving water

Tomorrow popped up -
the wind that had blown in
tore off a leaf from
a tall standing tree
roots entrenched
by the water's edge

and this leaf
wafted and fluttered
and glided into the
current below
taken bodily
where gravity pulls

and drifted upon the
wavelets lapping
and pushing
its severed self
far, far away into
the distance

I heard the crickets
and the cicadas
droning in the
afternoon sun;
those things could
ruin your ears!

and all the while
I gazed upon the
fallen leaf
hoping to spy on
what the future
promised downstream:

that if I let go
of whatever it was
that kept me there
feet dangling through
the rusted railing;
heart racing

would I wake up
and return to the
bustling world
unable to swim
against the current
rudely torn off

poem by Frederick Kesner
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

A New leaf

There’s a new leaf upon the Tree
A thousand, thousand have been before
In the life of this great tree
Yet, the Tree rejoices, and is glad
For there is a New Leaf upon the tree

The roots are deep, and hidden
Tis one tree from root to branch
And lives in and through each leaf
The hearts’ smile resurrected
Through the New leaf upon the tree

Like the stars of heaven
New leaves have been many
And so they all are One
For they all share the same root
Bless the New leaf upon the tree

Perfection in the Blessing
Joy released in tears of love
The strength in life will comfort
From root to God above
A New leaf upon the tree

Beauty, Truth, and life
Complete from root to branch
When life’s cycle turns
Leaves fall to nourish roots
And behold, a New leaf upon the tree

poem by Adrian Wait
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The leaf in the wind

The leaf in the wind
Missed the tree
The tree it was in
That made it be

It fell to the porch
A child held it
And gave it a stroke
Then gently left it

The wind came again
And took it to the sky
Then the sky rained
And it fell to lie

The things on the ground
Kept pushing it away
The wind had an angry sound
It wanted it in its way

So the wind blew
And picked up the leaf
And held it through
Earth’s grief and relief

No tree would claim
The young leaf left
Touched by time
Time itself had left

poem by Ragy Sandid
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The Flask of Time

There is a single leaf flying
in this my autumn gloaming,
a leaf fluttering light
as if being orchestrated
by your words in flight
rushing to my inner ear;
'I have fallen in love
with another you said.'

My leaf stammered,
swaying in its downward flight
unable to remount the tree,
terrified to crash the ground
suspended forever there
as was also true of your words;
better to not reach my inner ear
better to not have my leaf touch down dead.

Between us all these years
neither war, nor peace;
we existed in the troubled middle ground
purgatoried, unsensed, fluttering, leaf bound
frozen between tree and ground.

Now you have burned our tree down-
lit the leaf and made it flame-
and pulled from under us the very ground.

No matter the dead leaves, the burning tree
no matter the absent ground
these things will
in turn return
for the seasons never-end.

Therefore, I shall take my sip of sorrow
sipped slowly from my Flask of Time
and await
the Spring.

poem by Lonnie Hicks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

A Leaf

to a non-poet a leaf is just a leaf
and when it falls
on the ground, there is nothing but a
fall

but to us who claim this art
a leaf is not just a leaf
but it can be you or i
falling and when i reach the ground
you feel the heart of the leaf
beating

for its falling, its failure as a leaf,
its surrender to a certain death
its claiming a portion of this earth
to rest and be part of this
world, it rots, and it speaks some line
before it rots

a poem, a valediction on an anthill,
an eulogy of the other leaves that
fell before the great falling

it can be a story of humanity written
on the lines of its face, it will have flesh
on its layers, some mouths on its
seams, and it will tell too

about the tree where it comes from
how the clouds drifted so close to its stalk
how the sun kissed it on top of everything

a leaf is a world. just as a poem is.
we live inside it. Through it. Even
outside it. Even in circles.

we make understanding so complicated.
yet we are so simple as you see us.

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

A Leaf

I, like a leaf I breath,
I absorber the sun light, into me,
then bring into the tree,
The root is it's heart,
soaking, the water with in,
of the tree where,
the branch I live upon,
the wind wafts as the sun sets,
I will die brown no longer green,
in this leaf is me.

poem by Walter C. Edwards
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The Leaf And The Tree And The Roots

if i had to write it again
then i had to, as i must

let you fully understand
the true nature of a vine

the way the leaf swerves
with the wind to give itself

to a fateful fall, the one that
completes its existence as

a leaf to a tree, a part of
a whole, the way it must

settle on the ground and
be with the worms and rot

and fulfills the cycle of its
short existence, and by then

it tells the roots, i am a leaf
i am back and you must now

eat everything in me so i can
be with the bark again so i

can be a leaf again to a tree
that holds me back

and then for another time
lets me fall again.

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Fall to Earth

The stubborn little Maple leaf

held on when all its fellows fled.

They carpeting the ground beneath

a vast lushscape of gold and red.

Leaf held on through wind and rain,

the last survivor of its race.

Leaf held on past Turkey day

maintaining there its pride of place.

Then Leaf grew lonely, I suppose-

Like the summer's final rose.

Leaf envied then the flakes of snow

Who fluttered past to their repose.

Then, just as winter came to call,

Leaf felt a tug and then a snap.

Flying, tumbling on the winds

Fall to Earth. Fade to black.

poem by John F. McCullagh
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

I Was Not Born To Follow!

i am the match
...for the fire not lit,
......the cup that holds,

..no water!
...the wheel that turns
....while standing still,

the prayer lost in the mail.
..the leaf that clings
.....to the barelimbed tree,

the fallen tree where small things live.
....the one who digs
.......the unmarked graves,

who cleans the stalls by moonlight.
....the last cross
......on that faraway hill,

the one who pulls
.....the blanket o'er the body....

i am the song,
.....and the gentle hand,

i was not born to follow!

poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

A Leaf Has Fallen

A leaf has fallen on the ground,
Beliefs have solutions that astound;
Every tree that believed in its wood
Shall learn pain from the heavenly adulthood.

A leaf has fallen on the ground,
Solutions do stem from what is around;
All the flowers give messages in the air,
Their overly beautiful appearance is anywhere.

A leaf has escaped from the branches of a tree
As the wind blows on the older apples carefully;
Their sweetness is called ripeness,
It is the quality of happiness.

poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Another Leaf.....

another leaf

another year
another seed to plant
another tree to grow

there will be no hiding from now on
there will be more
confrontations

no one to trust
everyone is a suspect

love of self
nothing greater than this

another leaf
of the book to turn to
another page
to write on the journal

tomorrow is my day
my own unique beginning

you were all disappointments
my food came to the wrong mouths

there is no wishing for death
for me or for anyone

there is more use to reason now
rather than the flings of the heart

another sun for me
another new moon

my shadows follow me
and not otherwise

another leaf
without a worm

another glistening leaf
dew forgiven.

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Spring and All

By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast -- a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen

patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees

All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines --

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish
dazed spring approaches --

They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind --

Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf

One by one objects are defined --
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf

But now the stark dignity of
entrance -- Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted they
grip down and begin to awaken

poem by William Carlos Williams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Lonely Leaf

Lonely leaf
trembles
at the feeble moment

It's on the verge of falling
It's about to merge with limitless nature!

Air is guest to leaf once
now will become constant companion

Bond with tree
soon will be abandoned

The moment came
parting is always pain
fighting against time is invain
finally tree says farewell to the leaf

Now leaf realises boundless 'freedom'
It's floating like free bird
It is 'gone with the wind'

Leaf lost it's green colour
wearing pale colour
Colour hardly matters!
Leaf sings song of freedom

Bond with tree is bound
Feeling freedom is ecstasy abound

poem by Mula Veereswara Rao
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

You and I

I am a leaf that has fallen from the twig of my master tree,
And drifted by the waves to unknown shore, where will I be,
Though I wish to flee like the pheasant from the purest sky,
But I can’t restrain the oozing tides of my master sea.

If you were a siren who wishes to be the lily of the valley,
Will I be your only leaf for us to be happy?
To grasp your petals and never will I let you sway,
Or vow our masters but to rein our love through each day.

Now that You and I have reasons to exist,
What is life when they’ll come to resist?
I wish I turn to thorns to protect you from harm,
Or into a vine to cuddle you in my arms;

From the ditch of the bay to land of the valley,
It’s such a perfect world for you and me,
But they’ll come to you to commit you away,
And be a captive in their hands full of misery.

Then you’re gone; to them, I don’t understand,
Yet, I’ll still be the leaf ‘til I turned into sand;
So don’t covet my life for it’s all for tomorrow,
No matter what my fate is, I stand to years by grow.

poem by Efren Petalver Carranza
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Open, Time

Open, Time, and let him pass
Shortly where his feet would be!
Like a leaf at Michaelmas
Swooning from the tree,

Ere its hour the manly mind
Trembles in a sure decrease,
Nor the body now can find
Any hold on peace.

Take him, weak and overworn;
Fold about his dying dream
Boyhood, and the April morn,
And the rolling stream:

Weather on a sunny ridge,
Showery weather, far from here;
Under some deep-ivied bridge,
Water rushing clear:

Water quick to cross and part,
(Golden light on silver sound),
Weather that was next his heart
All the world around!

Soon upon his vision break
These, in their remembered blue;

He shall toil no more, but wake
Young, in air he knew.

He has done with roofs and men.
Open, Time, and let him pass,
Vague and innocent again,
Into country grass.

poem by Louise Imogen Guiney
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The Leaf

A little oak leaf tore off from its branch
Was driven o'er the steppe by a cruel gale;
Dried up and withered from the cold, the heat and sorrow
It finally alit by the Black Sea shore.

A young plane tree stands by the Black Sea shore;
A whispering wind strokes her green boughs;
On her green boughs sway heavenly birds
Singing the praises and fame of the queen of the sea.

The traveler lit at the soaring tree's roots;
Anguished he pled for a moment's shelter,
And these were his words: "I am but a poor oak leaf,
Matured before my time in a grim homeland.

For ages I've wandered without a goal, all alone
Without shade I withered, without repose, faded.
Would you welcome this stranger among your emerald leaves,
I know many stories of wonder and wisdom."

"But why do I need you?" the young tree replies, -
"You are dusty and yellow - ill-suited to my wholesome young sons.
You've seen many things - but what use do I have for your tales?
The heavenly birds have long wearied my ears.

O traveler! Be on your way. You are a stranger to me!
Beloved by the sun, I bloom and shine for him;
My boughs are spread in the heavenly fields,
The cool sea refreshes and washes my roots."

poem by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Leaves (thread)

under the dogwood
leaves cover
a cat’s grave

early spring
one leaf still dangles
from the tree

palmistry
dew drops on a leaf
pick a vein

widow’s diary
pressed rose petal
the last leaf

with the rain drops
leaves flutter to the ground
fall showers

fallen leaves
circusing in the grass
merry-go-wind

October shower
leaves in the gutter
disembark

leaves changing colors
across the landscape
season's chameleons

morning rain
under maple leaves
tap my shoulder

leaves ripple
with melodies
cicadas song

These were published online by Sketchbook. See September/October “leaves” Haiku thread:

poem by Ben Gieske
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The Smallest Leaf

Consider the way of smallest leaf
That grows on the biggest tree
Humbly serving in the life it lives
Just from planting a tiny seed

Serving from the lowest to the highest branch
With total faith to the tasks it’s given
Devoted to dress the naked tree
By the reason that it is living

Enduring the rush of unnatural storms
As the whistling wind sustains its blow
And loyal it hangs through the burning heat
As its maturity starts to show

While its colors adorn the autumn trees
And a new season begins
Where drooping trees portray the scene
That its life is near the end

A call to destiny pulls the leaf
From all thoughts of what could be
Replaced by a bud that will grow in time
As the tree hopes for a bigger leaf

Strong stands the tree that rejects the leaf
After a lifetime of servitude
Though it serves no more value on the tree
The tree still needs it for food.

poem by Kelvin Gene Lee I
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

Water Lilies

Where the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Rocking in the ripples of the water,
Lazy on a leaf lies the Lake King's daugher,
And the faint winds shake her.
Who will come and take her?
I will! I will!
Keep still! Keep still!
Sleeping on a leaf lies the Lake King's daughter. . . .
Then the wind comes skipping
To the lilies on the water;
And the kind winds wake her.
Now who will take her?
With a laugh she is slipping
Through the lilies on the water.
Wait! Wait!
Too late, too late!
Only the water-lilies go
To and fro,
Dipping, dipping,
To the ripples of the water.

poem by Alan Alexander Milne
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

The element of determination

I will be the last leaf
To fall
From this tall tree
This fall

Was my thinking
When I chose to strike
Three months back
On a much extended
Branch of this oak tree
By the side of the road

Things started changing
Over the period
And there was
A steady dropp in temperature
Many leaves much above me
And by the side of me
Changing colours
From yellow to purple
Waiting for the ultimate fall

But I am yet to change
Maintaining my original green
Active still producing
Carbohydrates with my chlorophyl
Despite the weak solar input

I was very happy
As most of the leaves
Have fallen
Changing the colour
Of the lawn beneath
From the grassy green to
The leafy yellow

It so happened
That I was the lone green leaf
In the entire tree
Left unturned to yellow

The very next afternoon
A scientist, botanist must be,
Reached over me
Standing on a ladder
Examined me with a
Magnifying glass
Ran his fingers over me

And to my dismay
Plucked me from the branch

Though crying within
I was glad
I am the last leaf
To fall

“Dr Wilson, what could be
There special in this leaf
Which managed to stand green
And strong so long
With no signs of falling
Even at the peak of
This fall”
Said Dr Van Buren,
The botanist

A portion of mine
Was bleached
A portion of mine
Was digested in acid
My extracts
Were chromatographed,
Electro-phoresised
Atomic absorption spectrographed

Dr Wilson
Phoned up to
Dr Van Buren
“There is nothing analysed
Abnormal and special
With the contents
Of the leaf sample
Given here for anaysis.

But, I could sense
The element of determination
In this leaf
Which made it
Strick on
Despite all odds”

poem by Bashyam Narayanan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!

In the Throes of Storm

Who is pricking
At these massive water balloons
Up in the sky?

The leaf and bud
Stood still in stunned silence
Tears flowing!

The roots baffled
At such endless flow of water
After a long dry spell!

poem by Indira Babbellapati
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!