just like trees
my life is a mix—
seasonal change
and evergreen
—Terri Guillemets
leaves
Whirlwind
bee-buzzed blooms
wilt white into winter —
hellish heavy heat
silently softens to snow —
lovely lustrous leaves
fall freckled in frost —
senescent slanting sun
solstices southward —
the young year yules
dizzily debarks december
—Terri Guillemets
Ravish
it is raining!
no, not water
from clouds
but dead leaves
from july trees
scorched by
a brutal heat
too sunburnt
to evergreen
falling, fallen
brittle brown
leafy teardrops
raining down
the dry warm
forlorn face of
mother earth
—Terri Guillemets
It’s a dry heat streak
full moon monsoon clouds
glow pale light through windy trees
parched leaves shadow dance
—Terri Guillemets
Autumn’s clock
In the wheel of Earth’s years
we watch as Autumn’s clock
Tick-tocks in tiny goldenrod
September petal’d seconds
Frosty trees bleed scarlet hours
through veins of October leaves
Amber minutes wither and fall
drifting in November’s breeze
And the silent strike of midwinter
turns December’s snowflake gears
—Terri Guillemets
Leaves for the Dead
I who have loved the sound of leaves
Restlessly writhing into speech
Desire that to my silent grave
Only leaves shall reach.
So I who walked above the ground,
And leaves that danced before the sun
May meet below to form one dust
And in the earth be one.
When the last wind has stripped the boughs
Some autumn, go out anywhere
To any tree, and look beneath
The leaves: I may be there.
—Paul Engle, 1929
Autumn’s wake
leaves dancing
in a brisk breeze
on an almost-bare tree
joyous at autumn’s wake
they tremble, ready
to be free, to sleep
with past seasons —
dying, they celebrate
the awakening of winter
—Terri Guillemets
In loss still they dance!
the leaves all dance
to the same breeze —
but some flutter and some fall
some shiver and some sway —
and when a gust comes
they lose themselves —
but are no less beautiful
on the ground, where resting
they still yet dance, but free
—Terri Guillemets
Feuille morte
dried crackling leaves
though dead
are never quite still
—Terri Guillemets
Change is in the air
Yes!
the delightful serenity of an autumn breeze
colorful leaves meandering as they please
—Terri Guillemets
In the autumn wood
green-veined leaves suddenly blushing copper
bronze-edged trees swaying in autumn breezes
gold foliage drifting past pewter branches baring all
brass-hued leaflets dying in beauty, falling in grace
—Terri Guillemets
Leaves!
when the leaves fly
float, feather, flutter
off the autumn trees
i am in love with life
—Terri Guillemets
Lit de mort coloré
Autumn leaves blaze their swan song of color and wait for Winter to wipe the slate clean.
—Terri Guillemets