The Leaves are Falling
by Mark Tochen
Fall wraps me round,
spatters of rain herald
hoodie weather
deciduous trees undecided
between leaves of green,
rusty red, or lemon yellow
turning to sere brown
tumbling to the ground
I cannot stop thinking
of a girl who greeted me
in the freshness of spring
with evergreen hopes
a halo about her
outlined by a sun’s ray—
that green fresh girl is gone
and I remain with her successor
left with colors of fall
become heedless brown
tumbling to the ground
and I recall a spring of bliss
every wind-whisper a kiss—
in my memory she has kept
that promise of spring
but spent is her beauty
only her fidelity stands
like a tree trunk in fall
surrounded by dead leaves
green promises turned
yellow or red to brown
as our hopes of forever
tumble to the ground
About the Author
Mark Tochen is a writer, a physician, a family man. He was educated with an English major in college, then medical school, four years of hospital training, drafted into the US Navy during the Vietnamese war, then a long career of medical practice and administration. All the bio points are useful for supporting relationships--kids and grandkid, dear wife who in her diagnosis of Alzheimer's gives him a reason to write--poetry, personal journal, and correspondence flow when all sustain him in daily life.