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  • Kathleen Jamie
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  • Autumn
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Autumn

Kathleen Jamie

O whence the leaves
scuttering down Easter Road,
sycamore and rowan
desperate as refugees,
crowding against the wheels of street-side dumpsters
– common leaves
with two-three crisp packets, like gaudy imposters
fleeing by outside the corner-shop
convenient for milk and pornography…

see the leaves hurry, Shy but Dirty –
past the Chinese nail-bar,
Mr Greg’s Tatoos –
they’re here, look:
blown into your stair
with the pizza delivery leaflets…
O whither the leaves?


Kathleen Jamie

from The Bonniest Companie by Kathleen Jamie (London: Picador, 2015)

Reproduced by kind permission of the author.

Tags:

Autumn Edinburgh leaves litter shopping
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Kathleen Jamieb.1962

Kathleen Jamie is a poet, essayist and travel writer. She has been Professor of Poetry at the University of Stirling since 2010.
More about Kathleen Jamie

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