POETS SALON
Winter Leaf (Photo – Virginia Popescu).
– 1/16/19
Hosted by Kathabela Wilson
Was anyone looking? On my way home I looked around carefully and then peeked. Lifting the leaves one by one, I pressed my hand to the image underneath, to make sure it was real. Was this a dream? I felt a thrill as each leaf self-portrait glimmered wet, intricately drawn, in sepia, the work of nature.
~ Kathabela
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Mystery of Leaves (Photo – Meher McArthur)
Meher McArthur
after the rainfall
leaves print ghosts on concrete
autumn sidewalk art
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Leaf prints by Meher McArthur.
Virginia Popescu
dry leaves
wrapped in a white blanket –
frost ornament
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Waiting Patiently (Photo – Al Gallia).
Al Gallia
a leaf falls…
my feet step gently over
past generations
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Leaf prints (Photo – Photos Meher McArthur).
Paul David Mena
clinging to summer
the leaves
of an old oak treemy investment portfolio:
golden leaves
on the groundlate autumn dream
putting the leaves
back on the trees
The mystery of leaves (Photo – Kathabela Wilson).
The Mystery of Leaves: Quotes and Credits
Meher McArthur, Los Angeles: “One morning in early December, I set out on a walk in Silver Lake with our dog. As I tend to look downwards when I am walking with him – he’s a little dog – I was struck by the patterns created by the wet leaves on the sidewalk and decided to photograph them. When I returned home, a haiku emerged…”
Virginia Popescu, Ploiesti, Romania: “Leaves of the trees have the same life as the human beings. They are born in spring from buds such as butterflies, then they take their flight to the sun, to finally fall on the ground, being covered with snow. I have always considered the existence of leaves like a great mystery.
Every autumn, looking at the falling leaves I remember the poem of Rainer Maria Rilke ‘Autumn’. In the night, I think they fall like stars and I make a wish for every falling leaf.
But I also know “there is One who holds this falling / Infinitely softly in His hands”.
Al Gallia, Southern Louisiana: “My home, is a land of beautiful hardwood forests, cypress swamps, and lazy bayous. I love the solitude and peace I find during my walkabouts in such places, where only God/nature in simplicity and beauty communes with me. And, yes, my camera and journal are always with me! It is late autumn and dead leaves flutter down incessantly in the afternoon sun. The path I follow leads through ancient moss-covered oaks and cypress, around a quiet pond, and past an overgrown cemetery. There I stop to rest and meditate on a rusty bench. The old headstones are severely weathered and the graves are covered by weeds and layers of leaves. Perhaps I can find some of the forgotten names and dates…”
Paul David Mena: “We are planning to sell our house in Cochituate, MA in the Spring and to move into our ‘second home’ in Centerville (on Cape Cod) full-time. I know that the changing of the seasons is inevitable, but given the hectic pace of suburban life, I’m seemingly always surprised to see it happen.”
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♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.
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Such inspirational works! Here’s my response to “Winter Leaf” by Virginia Popescu:
sketching in alencon
the morning
frost
I walk around Las Flores Creek Park in Malibu each week, and your prompt about the “Mystery of Leaves” brought back these images in a tanka:
leaves after rain
reflect riotous colors
outlines underneath
etched on sepia paths
reveal nature’s self-portraits
last leaves
cling to the maple tree
winter waits
To Smoke It Or Not To Smoke It
Basho sits under a Eucalyptus tree
inhaling the fragrance.
Li Po next to him says,
even though they are not five-leaf
吸烟时，狗屎更好
~~~
Alex Nodopaka January © 2019
Kathabela, thank you very much for including me in ‘The Mystery. Of Leaves’. Autumn, with the falling leaves and changing earthtones, always gives me both melancholy and hope…it is my favorite time of the year. I love all the poems and images in this article.