On Falling Leaves

by Susan Allison

In a light wind, dead leaves falling from the oak look too much like a

flock of birds flying south for winter to evoke the usual sadness.

Susan Allison was the first Poet Laureate of Middletown, CT. She opened an old and rare bookshop, Ibis Books & Gallery, on Rapallo Avenue in Middletown’s North End. The shop was transformed in 1991 into NEAR, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree, an arts and cultural performance space originally on Rapallo but moved to Main Street which continues to be a hub of artistic and cultural activity.