The texture of a nameless leaf
as crumbled in my hand,
is much the same
as promises past midnight made.
The sound of wings —
a skein of geese,
is much the same,
as your voicemail-greetings left.
The echo of your parting still remains,
as sunlit dust can stay —
swaying in midair,
is much the same
as being left a leaf.
A modern Tantalus. Illustration for ‘Meggendorfer leaves’ by Koloman Moser
A very quick poem for Kerry’s prompt on William Carlos Williams on Toads.
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2015-08-23
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Ha ha. That image is priceless.
The opening two lines are my favorites.
The feel of a leaf, at the end of summer, in one’s hand definitely has the feel of parting & is rather sad.
You use the leaf to convey separation and emptiness. It comes a surprise but you do it in a powerful way.
And that crushed leaf becomes like dust in the wind in the after. Maybe sands through the hour glass.
Beautiful. Touching.
beautiful imagery used here…”a skein of geese,” my favorite….
Has a dry, crumbly and hurt feel to it.
Dry, crumbled..leaf and spirit share the same feeling
All together a lovely poem . That ” skies of geese ” held my attention for quite a while
Much love…
You are so good at metaphor, Björn!
Promises of the texture of nameless leaves.. that’s such a terrific bit of writing Bjorn, loved it.
This is soo touching! Beautifully done 🙂
Very nicely done. Tactile, almost.
great imagery!
Gosh – this is gorgeous – it reads musically – quite beautiful
I love the imagery of the nameless leaf and sad parting as sunlit dust ~ A wonderful response to WCW’s poetic style ~
magical and imaginative metaphors so beautifully linked together
Ah, I love how you connected nature and modern widgets and signs, some fresh insights…
“as promises past midnight made” Well Done
The texture coarse and dry perhaps shows the heat of summer is relenting!
Hank
The first four lines….stunning!
Hey Bjorn, this was a masterpiece. You included a part of the new world: the e-mail, haha. as it was so original, i’m going to share it to google. thanks.
I taste a mixture of bitterness and loss in this one. As if the speaker wants to not care… wishes for the subject to be nothing… but that crumbled leaf seems to stick to his fingers, and the sound lingers…
it may have been quickly written, but i like it. Leaving a leaf is perfectly suited to your theme, and reprises the opening.
This is very poignant – your imagery brings the emotion home to the reader to perfection. I know that feeling of being left a leaf. Great metaphor.
Fabulous opening and images created with the metaphor!
interesting images.. it’s the part of the year that this poem fits to really well.
It is also like turning a leaf–thanks, Bjorn. k.
The leave taking happens in bits and pieces here – the first hello has the air of goodbye already in it.
Having lost several loves along the way, I can testify to the truth that the echo of their parting still remains…years later…
A poignant metaphor for lost love … brief and effective in the style of Williams.
Such a fragile poem, but in a really good way. I especially love that line about promises after midnight.
For me, this has a bit of a chain or circular tale element to it in which the last element leads to repetition of the first (in this instance reworked to great effect). A very clever little poem.
A very beautiful look at a difficult time.
I love the image of the leaf and skein of geese. They say much of transience.
How poignant. The first stanza is outstanding!
‘The echo of your parting still remains’, that’s my favorite line. So much depth and feeling in those words. Powerful, indeed, Bjorn.
Instantly one of my favourites! So emotionally evocative, so perfectly crafted.
What interesting images. Truly, I always think of these things as beautiful, but OH! you are right, they’re too soon gone!
Some memories linger longer than others. Good metaphors, Bjorn. Well done. 🙂
A very wonderful connection!