Leaving
by Kelly Sargent
I should like to pass
in autumn
with the leaves.
And like the crepey birch
and beech
and sugar maple,
release worries —
one by one —
like leaves
in the crisp,
cool breezes
when they come.
My child’s demanding boss,
my sister’s broken ankle,
my friend’s lost calico cat
will swirl in a restless funnel
before collapsing
in a resigned pile at my feet.
Brittle and dry,
without attachment
to lifeblood
which once fed
and fretted
and, sometimes,
caused them to fester
like thistles
stuck in husky shadows.
Worries that, in the end,
recycle
like moonlight and a dewy dawn.
And when I am bare
and ready to sleep,
I will look down in the receding light,
and notice
how breathtaking
my worries are,
now
that I have let them
leave.
Kelly Sargent - A significantly hearing impaired writer and artist adopted in Luxembourg, Kelly Sargent is the author of two memoirs in verse, entitled Seeing Voices: Poetry in Motion (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Echoes in My Eyes (Kelsay Books, 2024), and a short form poetry collection entitled Bookmarks (Red Moon Press, 2023). Other works have appeared in more than eighty literary journals, most recently including Rattle, Chestnut Review, and Broad River Review. Honors include: Firebird Book Award winner, The Rash Award in Poetry finalist, Eric Hoffer Award nominee, Touchstone Award for Individual Poems nominee, and two-time Best of the Net nominee. She serves as the creative nonfiction editor of The Bookends Review. Visit www.kellysargent.com to learn more about her.