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leaf songs
Cold shower water in my eyes, through my thick heavy hair,
Rain-like but predictable, I will it to clean me through ...
But the grey feeling inside of me will not wash away.
Soft, slippery memories leave their film within
The way leaves after rain leave their brown-prints on the sidewalk
To say, "Yes, I was here: here is the stain of myself that proves it.
Wet, heavy, cold, too old and weary-brown to move
I was born in the treetops and sang green summer songs
And the golden-red death of autumn gloried around and through me
But is emptiness now; the wind-neither harsh nor soft-
Sent me on my way, only to leave a momentary signature in time
on the pale sidewalk."
/oyHoffman
Leaves
Sharon Klinder
52
