Leaves of Today

Friday afternoon
Sky receding blue out of bounds
Waiting for Melecio
Crow, a stone’s throw
Sound gathers in the branches

Stirrings of consequence
Playground of the kids
Emotions run deep
Spill over unexpectedly
In Houston on business
Buried at work
Magnificence one block away

The time is now
No one is entirely sure
A habit we picked up
While watching shadows move
This side of the globe
Are shadows real?
Or do they merely represent?
The leaves of today
Delight us
Who are only too human not to care

Copyright © 2022 by Kit Robinson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 15, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“When I write a poem, I listen for words. Sometimes one line leads to another. I never know what’s going to happen. To me, that’s the fun of poetry. I can include things said or read, words in the head, or my immediate environment: a backyard, shadows of leaves, neighborhood sounds. Not forgetting the state of the planet. Specifics crop up: Melecio, a music teacher; my daughter on a photo shoot in Houston; in the distance, a magnificent tree. The title of this poem represents physical nature, pages of a favorite poem, a sequence of events in time.”
—Kit Robinson