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Appleton, WI

August 2: Day by Day with Father Bill

MONDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 
A Dervish of Leaves by Ted Kooser
 
Sometimes when I’m sad, the
dead leaves
in the bed of my pickup truck get 
up on their own
and start dancing. I’ll be driving
along,
glance up at the mirror and there
they’ll be,
swirling and bowing, their flying
skirts
bruising the back window, not
putting a hand
on the top of the cab to steady
themselves,
but daringly leaning out over the box,
making fun of the fence posts
we’re passing
who have never left home, teasing
the rocks
rolled away into the ditches, leaves
light
in their slippers, dancing around in
the back
of my truck, tossing their cares to
the wind,
sometimes, when I’m down in my 
heart.