the lesson of the leaves

the lesson of the leaves

Lucille Clifton

the leaves believe

such letting go is love

such love is faith

such faith is grace

such grace is god

i agree with the leaves

I really liked this poem. It was actually slightly cheerful unless you looked at it in terms of death. I think the structure and diction of the poem can make the poem appear to be multiple things. At first, I saw the poem as a circle poem because Clifton repeats the words in each line, and the words from line to line have different meanings. Then, I thought of the visual effect the repetions of the words had: they create the image of an actual leave fluttering to the ground and the repeated movement they make. I also saw the structure as Clifton's line of thought and her reasoning to why she agress with the leaves, and hopw she goes from letting go to God. When I think of this poem in terms of death I see this poem as Clifton's acceptance of death because she had cancer, and how letting go is having grace in God.