Gone / A Leaf

NaPoMo poem #17 & #17-A

This is a pair of poems I offer for the seventeenth day here in April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

These two works, though written separately, have revealed themselves to be joined as bookends of emotion — the piercing ache of separation, and the bittersweet tenderness of eternal longing.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

Gone

•

turning to leave
you cover the distance
to the door
in a few heartbroken steps

you look back
I will miss you
in your eyes

you hold my gaze
as if to speak

nothing is said

you lower your eyes
turn your head
step through the door

and are gone

• • •

 

 

A Leaf

•

sitting
I watch a leaf
fall from a tree

forever parted

the evening light
settles soft on my face

my eyes
fix on the far horizon

a tear
warms my cheek

you have never left my heart

• • •

 

both poems by: rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

12 thoughts on “Gone / A Leaf”

  1. Nothing said doesn’t mean nothing felt. You show this so well.

    I was captivated by the image of the leaf separated from the tree by falling – something commonplace but looked at in a new way.

    I read both of these earlier today and was coming back to comment.

  2. The two really do flow together, as if they were one poem. The leaf falling from the tree captures so well that moment of loss, when you realize there’s no turning back.

  3. Hi Rob,

    I like Gone. I like these lines:
    “you cover the distance
    to the door
    in a few heartbroken steps”

    Thanks for the comment on my poem, I’m glad you liked it.

  4. You’re right, these two poems are very much connected. I enjoyed them both, I know the pain of watching someone leave and the joy of realizing that I still hold them in my heart! Thank yo for sharing your work and visiting my blog!

  5. Both of these poems have such a tenderness to them. I like the contrast between a person-centered poem and a nature-centered one.

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