Saturday, November 08, 2008

autumn leaves

When I got to the front yard, my neighbor had
just finished raking the leaves. Our property line
was well delineated: no leaves on his lawn,
leaves on mine. He has chosen to participate in
fall’s festival of futility in ways I have not. I’m
waiting for a good stiff breeze to blow them
all down the block to belong to someone else.

The leaves are more singular in their task than I;
all they have to do at this point is let go and fall.
I have to -- well, I won’t bore you with my to dos --
let’s just say I already have enough futile flailings
to attend that I don’t need to add raking to my list.
And so my yard is full of leaves -- let me be clear --
not because I didn’t have time to rake, or I didn’t
buy a rake, or I had planned to rake and was kept
from my task by some circumstantial emergency.

I’ve chosen to let my lawn be a sanctuary for the
fallen, a place for leaves to land and stay for as
long as they like. If I do gather them at all, it
will be to make a big pile for the purpose of
doing my best Snoopy impression, shuffling
through the stack, my head kicked back in glee,
until all the leaves are scattered once more
across the yard. Then I will wave to my
neighbor as he rakes, and go inside, grateful.


















Peace,
Milton

2 comments:

M Holman said...

it is the simple things..... and after talking about JT's "Covers", his most famous songs is a cover of a Carole King song ("You've Got A Freind") .... and Carole penned a great song called "Simple Things" on an album by the same name. Wish I could find it on CD. I think it was her first album that didn't go gold.... Here it is:

Simple things mean a lot to me
Some things only children can see
Simple things like horses running free
And easy acceptance of life

Simple things never compromise
All things have a rhythm I can't realize
I feel content in my freedom
And I feel my freedom is right

I never want to stop being a child
I want to see the flowers growing wild on the hillside
To see the sun rise in the morning
Sunlight growing, filling the skies

Simple things of the earth don't die
They just grow and change as time goes by
There are no questions without answers
I've found my answer to life is living
The secret of living is life


Milton, you have found the secret! Thanks for sharing!

don't eat alone said...

Hey -- we did that song in one of our Sing acts. I remember it.

Peace,
Milton