a single fallen leafdried curling in on itself a minute tarnished sail of bent spars a worried mast found its way across the wide street
and graveled shoulders turned to and fro and somehow avoided the swift vehicles their invisible eddies
it came on a subtle line towards
him after leaping from the tall quarried stone curb
he glimpsed its start out of the
corner of his eye
then with bated breathhe couldnt help himself he watched its improbable passagefollowed its
dance howled silent encouragement and cheered as it staggered forward he couldnt say why he knew but he was sure it
was coming to him
and then eventually upon him without
voice so it could not say it continued
its mime and danced and spun and whirled intricately at his feet all around him
he stood fast dumbfounded
then another leaf from the side
of the road he stood on joined the first and then another and another and other leaves different breeds converged
until there were perhaps a dozen pairs a dozen pairs performing without music
an astonishing choreography dancing
about him as if he were their maypole their ribbons and twine invisible
they circled round and around
him the circle widening and
widening orbiting him then after several dazzling minutes their
centrifugal force began to erode and fail their steps alterimg becoming uncoordinated palsied until they collapsed wearily onto their faces or backs but not before they paused and curtsied to him singularly solitarily until
they all stopped moving
the wind stirred
many leaves blew across
the road or erupted from the unkempt field at his side they coursed in between then beyond the dance troupe
those leaves however remained still unmoved
weighted by real death
1427
self-texted, Sunday, 3 6.
18
1701, Monday,
4 5. 18
