Sound of leaves falling like rain is the Japanese title translated to English. Yes I know we are in the midst of hot summer *up in the northern hemisphere) but autumn is my second favorite season. I wrote this a few years ago and since it is a rainy day, I brought it from my notebook and did some work on it.
ko no ha no ame
rainy autumn day –
a burial of dead leaves
swept from branches by
bitter wind – even the crows
are silent – only the howls
of a stray dog breaks the grey
silence – I walk with the weight
of the heavens on my mind –
leaves fall – sorrow on sorrow.
kanzen sakura 
Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:04:45
There is something very sad about the falling leaves…I liked your write.
Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:11:18
Thank you. I think so too. And no. I didn’t always know or think about being a chef. I always wanted to be a writer of poetry. When I was 18, my family took one of their yearly trips to NJ to visit with our Up North cousins. My cousin who was a public relations person for a huge public relations company in NYC took us all to 21 for lunch during the visit. The chef of course came out to meet us all that. I was very impressed with his white smock and toque. But it wasn’t until I was in university that I began to “cook” for a living to help with expenses. Then after I graduated from university, I went to the CIA for training. I cooked to pay my way through that. More expense that 5 years of university were those two years! Like a true love affair, I was hot and wane cold.
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:26:41
“Sorrow on sorrow”: OH, the feelings these words and those images of the silent crows and falling leaves evoke. Does the weight get lighter or do we just become habitual?
-HA
Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:36:20
I think the weight gets lighter, then heavier and yet lighter again. Because I have chronic depression, it does that way for me.
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:28:42
It is raining in the Philadelphia suburbs today too, though autumn rains do have different personalities from their summer sisters.
Jul 24, 2018 @ 16:25:37
Yes. It is raining up and down the eastern seaboard. But when I step outside it is hot and muggy instead of the cool.of autumn
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:31:05
Sorrow on sorrow, echoed by the rain. Beautiful, Toni.
Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:38:33
My kind of day, Toni, and I could do with some of your rain. 🙂
Jul 24, 2018 @ 15:44:17
I understand you guys are having some heat! No air conditioning either? I would commit murder without air conditioning!
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 16:12:16
I like the way nature and the poet’s mood reflect and echo each other.
Jul 24, 2018 @ 16:44:24
That closing image captured my heart there and then. Beautiful poem, Toni 💖
Jul 24, 2018 @ 17:10:36
Thank you Sanaa!
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 20:26:13
Sound of leaves falling like rain –
the translations always fascinate me – and wow, I’m glad you’ve revisited this poem and shared it –
it’s so word heavy for its lightness (this is a compliment) –
it’s tight, compact, yet it evokes so much depth of feeling, of sorrow, of relief and release in some ways, for the beauty of sorrow (which may seem contradictory, but sometimes we need to breathe the sorrow for the sun, as it were)
you’ve captured the essences, the burden of weight, of wet leaves – which oh, what a brilliant image – crows in silence and a stray dog’s howl – that is shivery in essence –
and rain is most welcomed, even if autumn’s rain isn’t the same flavour as summer –
this is gorgeous … and well, if stones can speak, certainly trees do – and most definitely rain ….
Jul 24, 2018 @ 20:49:56
About 8 feet from my favorite tree, an old oak that lets me climb him, is a wide stream with thin sandy shoulders littered with round smooth stones- from the size of a an 8 mm pearl to the size of a saucer. Everything speaks to me in this place – the water, stones, trees, leaves, animals. All I have to do is to listen. Yes we do have to breathe in the sorrow. As much as we want to, we can’t avoid sorrow, the silence, and the wet leaves.
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Jul 24, 2018 @ 20:52:57
it sounds like a little slice of heaven on the doorstep …. and most certainly a place for reflection, comfort and release … as well as a sacred space to just …. breathe …
and that is more than enough of a gift …
sorrow must walk hand in hand with joy … it just sucks when we get stuck in it … but all storms pass … eventually …
Jul 25, 2018 @ 09:11:52
Holy moly, that last line. That is amazing!
Jul 25, 2018 @ 15:49:23
Alas the leaves are falling as rain in the middle of summer. The current drought make the birches turn yellow… I have to say I long for autumn when it’s like this.
Jul 25, 2018 @ 23:07:14
Bjorn, you know how I love autumn and winter. I have been longing for autumn since June 1.
Jul 26, 2018 @ 02:36:30
Man! That is beautiful 🙂
Jul 26, 2018 @ 06:44:49
Thank you.
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Jul 26, 2018 @ 17:40:04
I find myself more thoughtful on my fall walks – I don’t know what it is – I often take my headphones off (more so than in summer) and listen to the crunch of the leaves and the way sound travels is different. I just try and survive the heat during the summer and cold in winter 🙂 Beautiful poem. I think crows are noisier during breeding season… quieter in the fall when nests are empty.
Jul 26, 2018 @ 18:06:16
I never wear headphones. I want to enjoy the silence and the natural sounds. One reason I don’t care for musical prompts.
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