Burning Leaves
The embers rippled
In the chilly nighttime breeze
Red and white and shimmering
Flames not so far away
Just beyond the tall evergreens
Amidst the forest clearing
Telltale scent of burning leaves
Spread through the air far and wide
Ushering back memories from long ago
Halfway around the world
Six decades in the forgotten past
In an isle where a child dreamt of snow
Where every Friday afternoon
He and his brother will rake all
The fallen leaves under the mango tree
Gleefully, they light up the leaves
Scent suffusing the evening air
As the smoke rises up its leafy canopy
Bugs infesting the tree
They leave or die, thus ensuring
Sweet mangoes; a bounteous harvest
And the boys sit by the fence
Dreaming, laughing at tall tales
Arguing on who’d move away the farthest
Years later, the child now a man
Uprooted; his travels took him away
To foreign shores, halfway round the world!
A lifetime he spent in a place
Where not one mango tree grew
So long ago memories now dim and pearled!
Except tonight!
As he watched the flames from afar
The scent of burning leaves in the night air
He thought of the days of his youth
The dreams he had, the wild fantasies
Simple days! only happiness, no despair!
© Vic A Evora
03-16-2019
Wrote this poem this afternoon, A nostalgic poem, not as morbid as the last one I wrote. But still it has a tinge of sadness and a touch of regret. Of course it is fictional. But I could relate because I find myself thinking of the days of my youth. I think you do as well
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