Like A Leaf Poem by RIC BASTASA

i will pass this world
like a blown leaf
to the north by the south winds
there will be abrupt changes
just the ripening of the life
of a leaf
from green to yellow
to orange and then to gray
to dryness crumpling
into dust

who will not be dust?
we all are
but all of you are leaving traces
like a footstep
a child a parcel of land
a will

how can i make some traces
on the path of the
wind?

there shall be none
for a whisper has no bars to hold on
a sound has no box to stay
a spoken word
has no room for sleeping.