Falling Leaves by Irena Nikolova

September 19, 2023
Poem title: Falling Leaves Poet name: Irena Nikolova Poem: Les sanglots longs Des violons De l’automne Paul Verlaine I cut leaves – ivy, rosebush and geranium. stems bleed in cold – dead leaves on deck cling to the cold. the sun lies low today, its rays illuminate the leaves with golden tints on red. flowers that once burst with joy of life are dying. cutting leaves stabs my heart like arrows piercing the night – bees stinging the body in Dalí. elephants tread and crush tender green ivy, roses, leaves. a leafy autumn afternoon suffused with sunlight’s dying breath, sun slouching to the west, leaves whirling in its rays. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Irena Nikolova Irena Nikolova has a PhD in Comparative Literature from Western University in London, Ontario. She has taught literature at Sofia University in Bulgaria, as well as Western University and the University of Ottawa. She has published a book on the poetry of P.B. Shelley and J. Keats entitled Complementary Modes of Representation in Keats, Novalis and Shelley (Peter Lang, 2001). She has also published articles on the poetry of W. Wordsworth, the drama of W. B. Yeats and the European Romantic Epic. Irena is a member of the Algonquin Square Table, a poetry workshop created by Prof. A. F. Moritz at the University of Toronto. She has participated in the Poetry Influency Salon of Margaret Christakos at the University of Toronto. She has also worked with the American-Canadian poet Molly Peacock who has been a source of poetic inspiration, a mentor and insightful critic and editor. One of her poems, “Claws of Darkness,” has been featured on the radio program Accents: A Radio Show for Literature, Art and Culture in Lexington, Kentucky. Three of her poems were published in 2022 by Polar Starlight, an online Canadian magazine for Speculative Fiction. Another poem is forthcoming in the same magazine in the fall of 2023.