Poem of the Week XXX

As promised, John Stone:

finis

John Stone

All that needed saying has been said.

The world implodes in silence in its shell.

The tree grows dying and the seed is fed.

The fall is filling out the year in red

while water freezes in the open well.

All that needed saying has been said.

The leaves drop spinning from a spider thread.

The spider stops its spinning in a spell.

The tree grows dying and the seed is fed.

The plunging horses know what lies ahead;

the spokes are turning faster than the wheel.

All that needed saying has been said.

We set the hands and we begin to dread

the grinning clock-face and the private hell.

The tree grows dying and the seed is fed.

The heart learns truth more slowly than the head,

yet in your eyes I knew and I could tell

all that needed saying has been said.

The tree grows dying and the seed is fed.