(16 September 2016)
A chill day’s end. The linden trees
Now teem with leaves gone bronze or brown,
And some have learned to settle down
To earth in random twos or threes.
The traffic roars on, far below;
The evening bells begin to ring;
And promises of nightfall bring
Thoughts of rue and thoughts of woe.
The bells, the bells! Those wretched bells!
They measure my mortality.
Their every tedious ringing tells
The tale of my fatality!
William Ruleman’s most recent collections of poetry include From Rage to Hope (White Violet Books, 2016) and Salzkammergut Poems and Munich Poems (both from Cedar Springs Books, 2016). His translations of Hermann Hesse’s Early Poems (also Cedar Springs Books) and Stefan Zweig’s Clarissa (Ariadne Press) were published in 2017. More about him can be found at his website: www.williamruleman.com.
Foxglove Journal 