02 Aug Leaf Falling Letter (for my father) by Joel David Lesses
endless autumn,
it is unutterable;
in this day’s
autumn wind,
there blows
through me
links of repetition ,
the inexhaustible
feeling
that I bring
to this season
and this season
brings to me;
winding from
this present
autumnal expression
to days when
I was smaller,
the edge of trees,
sharper.there are certain
moments,
like hands
feeling a pulse,
in this season
of change
although
always there
that extend
through me
to a place
long forgotten,
so perfect,
I know
not whether
to laugh or cry(scream or
shout it
cannot be
touched)and I am
returned to
chains of
memories
of the same
in autumn
each autumn:this chain
link,
stream is
a river
always and never
changing
is autumn
and changeless
change.
bridging
the feeling
that I place the
earth
in the center
of my belly
wrap my arms,
my legs
around it tight
and rest
my head
as it were
over a babe’s
and whisper
gently
‘it is alright,
it is all to be
all-right’
and freeze
that frame
feeling autumnal
as though that
is how everything
should be
for all time.
About the Poet
photo credit Joel David Lesses
Joel David Lesses is a poet who focuses on expressing the landscape of our existence, capturing the mystical elements of our human being, world religion, poetry, spirituality, meditation, and encompassing the makeup of our mind and life. Born in Buffalo, NY, Joel David Lesses has lived in Nepal and Israel, and is the founder of Ground and Sky Poetry, the Education Training Center, and its Unraveling Religion series of podcasts. His work has appeared in numerous publications in the United States and around the world.
Lesses works in counseling for people marginalized by trauma, addiction, and psychological distress; and, its effects including incarceration, homelessness, and institutionalization. He is dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. His other passions include the intersection of poetry, spirituality, science, and phenomenology shared and disparate in the human experience, and transformative power of self inquiry and introspection through contemplative and meditative practices explored in his podcast, ‘Unraveling Religion’ which are mystical and practical discussions as an exploration of spirituality and its relation to religion and psychology.
In 2015, Lesses founded Ground and Sky Poetry as a reading series and publishing cooperative that sponsors workshops and open mic readings in both Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., and publishes anthologies and individual volumes of poetry aligned with Ground and Sky Poetry and the Education Training Center. This poem appears in Journeys of the Sacred Community, Volume II (June 2026), the second anthology of Ground and Sky Poetry featuring thirteen poets curated and edited by Joel David Lesses and published by Manjushri Press.