The Love-leaf by Ruby Archer

In thought I wandered through the falling brightness
Of autumn leaves; no meaning they possessed,
Until one radiant leaf in playful lightness
Came whispering down and nestled on my breast.

A sense of pleasure thrilled through all my being;
To be more sure I felt the presence fair,
I touched it with my hand. Ah—swiftly fleeing,
It fell in formless fragments on the air.

Perhaps it was an omen. Love may flutter,
A bright-hued leaf from fate's o'er-hanging tree,
May fall to nestle at my heart, may utter
A murmured word of tenderness to me.

And if I seek with trembling touch to banish
A fear that love lives only in the mind,
Then will the glory of the love-leaf vanish,
And leave but dust and memories behind.