Leaves in a Stream in the Time of Letting Go

by Joan Leotta


River birch stand tall, shielding me
from autumn’s first gray sky,
complementing the efforts of
my warm wool cloak
their green, cloak’s blue
celebrating the last of summer.
Wind has scattered a few
yellow leaves into the stream.
Wrapped in cloak and thoughts of loss
I will my fears out upon these floating skiffs
released willingly from the birch
hoping these will bear my anxieties far from here
so that when winter finally comes with its
colder winds and empty branches scratch
even grayer skies, fears gone,
I will face a frozen stream
wrapped warmly in even brighter colors
with skates strapped upon my feet.
Released from fears I will glide
along the ice, laughing at the anxiety,
fears, I felt in the time of letting go.


* * * * *

“Leaves in a Stream in the Time of Letting Go” was first published in Nine Muses and is part of Joan Leotta’s chapbook, Feathers on Stone (Main Street Rag, 2023)

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. She performs tales featuring food, family, and strong women. Internationally published, she’s a 2021 and 2022 Pushcart nominee, a Best of the Net 2022 nominee, and a 2022 runner-up in the Robert Frost Competition. Her essays, poems, and fiction are in Ekphrastic Review, When Women Write, The Lake, Verse Visual, Verse Virtual, anti-heroin chic, Gargoyle, Silver Birch, The Wild, Ovunquesiamo, MacQueen’s Quinterly, and Yellow Mama, among others. Her chapbooks are Languid Lusciousness with Lemon from Finishing Line Press and Feathers on Stone from Main Street Rag.