Dry Leaf
(A poem by Sal Godoij.)
I told her I loved her and kissed her
But she did not answer my kisses.
Yet that night, I still dreamed of her.
The next day, silence answered my call.
It’s been quite a while since then
Since the silence, I mean, the rejection.
I say this because the hurt remains.
Her rejection settled deep within my heart.
But it wasn’t her rejection that hurt me
Her green pupils probing my soul did.
No, it wasn’t her green pupils probing my soul that hurt me the most
Her lips so red, so tempting but unresponsive did
Wizard girl: here one moment, nothing the next.
From my arms, like a dry leaf she drifted away.
Still, I kept dreaming of her.
Even now, amid the noise of the street,
I see women hurrying past me.
They come like dry leaves flowing in the wind.
And like dry leaves flowing in the wind
They pass by me, and I whisper her name.
For some faint trace that might lead me back to her.
About her whereabouts
But none of them stops.
The swish, swish of the wind; quick steps move them away
And downcast and thoughtful, I move forward
And the dry leaves drift away
Drift away, just as she once did.
What is love then, but a dry leaf drifting away in the wind?
