Burning Leaves
The smell of burning leaves remembered
nineteen-fifties
small town, in November
Southern Illinois
the turning foliage
gone prismatic in the light
peacockular
then fallen, raked, and set on fire
joss sticks turned red
white scarves of smoke
nature’s perfume
sweet scented sendoff
into hemispheric night.
Leaves as Disposal Site – Borlänge, Sweden
I never thought about it at the time, a passing thing. Do people
still burn leaves? Not here in Sweden. We have plastic bags now, we rake
the leaves, and put them into plastic bags, then take the bags to a
disposal area, where something clever with them. Some leaves go to
little compost boxes people have in their back yards. All very
practical. Not so romantic. There are bonfires here in Sweden, big ones,
every year. It’s not the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment