A Willow Leaf’s Departure

July, 2014.

A gentle breeze strokes a willow,

Bent low with age in the watery hollow.

A single leaf, soft silvery green,

Floats in the air, to dance and preen.

Silently swirling with each gust and blow

The leaf’s flight is merry to the water below.

It touches down with the faintest footfall,

The lazy stream rippling ‘neath a magpie’s call.

In the gray light of the pre-dawn glow,

The leaf is carried away by the little stream’s flow.

Crawling gently o’er each pebble and rock,

It sweeps past the tired gaze of waking livestock.

Fading slowly into the horizon

The willow is left behind and forgotten,

While the leaf in the stream, with a shake and a shiver,

Rounds the field and is lost in the river.

Author's Note

Can you detect the melancholy in the poem? Is it too overt, or too subtle?