Raking Leaves
Raking Leaves
The litter
of falling leaves
is everywhere:
in streets,
on roofs,
across grass;
golden maples dropping,
alders edging brown,
cherries molting red.
Whirlwind
gathers leaves
in piles,
offering a cushion
for leaping canines
and jumping progeny.
Drudging job ahead:
blower drapes,
rake hangs,
bin is standing
in the yard.
Inside warm abode,
poet procrastinates,
words offering excuse
from plunging out
into cool fall air.
Eventually,
reality intrudes
and necessity awakes.
Poetry is ephemeral,
ethereal and elusive,
but fallen leaves
are solid wastes.
Job is done:
deck cleaned,
walk swept,
lawn cleared.
Leaves fall and fall
and a chore is a chore:
words droop,
sentences yawn,
paragraphs nap,
but raking leaves
is soon complete
and is its own reward,
a finite composition.
James Nystrom
About this poem
The poet fall.
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Written on October 26, 2023
Submitted by Jjamesnystrom on January 27, 2024
- 51 sec read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABXXX CXD XAXEXF DXXCX XXXXB FXAXXAX EXXX XXXXXAXXE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 899 |
Words | 171 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 3, 6, 5, 5, 7, 4, 9 |
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"Raking Leaves" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/180404/raking-leaves>.
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