The Poet Grasps Transience
Joanne Esser
Even out on a walk
on a glowing autumn day,
I can’t stop words
from scrolling through my mind.
Describing, naming, evaluating,
pinning down sensory impressions.
How we use language
to flatten life, pressing it
between the pages of a heavy book.
In our attempt to preserve
we diminish. Like trying to save
an audacious red leaf
fallen from the last flaming tree
of October. We carry it back
to our room, then mourn
when the edges begin to curl,
the color fading to the hue
of dried blood.
About the Author
Joanne Esser is the author of the poetry collections All We Can Do Is Name Them, Humming At The Dinner Table, and the chapbook I Have Always Wanted Lightning. Her new book of poems, Nothing Is Stationary, was released by Holy Cow! Press in June 2026. Recent work appears in Great Lakes Review, Humana Obscura, I-70 Review, and Dunes Review, among other journals. She earned an MFA from Hamline University and lives in Eagan, Minnesota.