When maple leaves have fallen but oak remains strong.

· by · in dVerse, poetry. ·

Walking on tangerine corpses
after the first night of frost
scented with decay
crackling under my feet,
lamenting the finality,
briefly turning the paths into gold
before being absorbed
and swallowed by soil
while the courtly king
my oak, remains green,
stately and stronger alone
pretending while
letting a jittery squirrel
collect the last of its acorns,
under cerulean skies
the hesitant grass
listen to silence of birds.

This is the season both before and during deluge.

Dead leaves on the ground

Today Kim inspires us to create poems at dVerse with a microseason we invent ourselves. The season should be put in the title. For inspiration she shares various Japanese Microseasons, but we should create our own.

My poem is inspired by a microseason we have in Spring: between bird cherry and lilac which means the short blissful period in may between the blooming of bird cherry Prunus Padus and lilac. Both these flowers have a strong scent and is the period for young people to fall in love.

October 21, 2025

42 responses to “When maple leaves have fallen but oak remains strong.”

  2. Stunning work done, Bjorn! I especially admire; “while the courtly king my oak, remains green, stately and stronger alone.” 💚💚

  3. How wonderful that your poem was inspired by a Swedish micro season in May, and that it’s not set in spring, but in autumn. I love how you set the scene in the opening lines, which appeal to all the senses, and the courtly king, the oak, standing strong and green. The ‘jittery squirrel’ was a pleasant surprise.

  4. A truly wonderful micro poem, Björn. I love the dolorous atmosphere being crowned by that “stately king,” that oak which alone stands unperturbed and regnant. What a glorious image!

  6. I love “tangerine corpses.” And the oaks are “courtly kings.”

    Are your oaks dropping lots of acorns this year? (Apparently this is a mast year.) I hear them dropping on our roof, and they’re all over the yard and street.

  9. Your descriptions seem very solid – like the oak tree. Always good to be earthed and unmoving rather than buzzing around as a jittery squirrel – Jae

  10. We are in the season of wet fallen leaves here on the west coast of Canada, too. The maple is one of my favourite trees. I once had huge old growth maples in my yard. Sigh.

  12. This is evocative and such a lovely micro season! We have so many acorns falling from our oaks now I have to remember to wear shoes when I take Celeste into the yard.

  14. Your poem is visually stunning, with tons of depth too .. those dead leaves announcing winter is close by. I loved this, Bjorn

  15. I was hiking in the mountains over the weekend and the oaks are turning color, I picked up some acorns to bring home for the squirrels as there aren’t many around here. The air does have a musty, woody, and decaying scent of dead leaves.

  19. I love the difference between the different colours of trees in all the seasons – even when bare you can pick them out – lovely observational poem Björn…

  20. Your short season sends a second flush of vernal juice through the synapses. For lovers that means Round Two of the day into the night …

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