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feuille-morte

my entry for the "Falling Leaves" challenge #3

By Imola TóthPublished 4 months ago 1 min read
feuille-morte
Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash

slow rot drifts down, as

memories of summer fade

lurid wistfulness

~~~

I thought the ghastly history of the word "lurid" makes it a fitting adjective for this haiku and also a great word for describing the color of the dying leaves. The word comes from the Latin 'luridus', which was used in the 17th century to describe the pale yellowish color of diseased or bruised skin.

"Feuille-morte" is a French expression, that literary translates to 'dead leaf'. As a color, it describes a dark and deep brownish orange.

Haikunature poetry

About the Creator

Imola Tóth

I write poetry and fiction on the edge of the map when I'm not working in the forest.

Medium | Instagram

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Comments (7)

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  • Krysha Thayer4 months ago

    I love your unique perspective on the prompt. Definitely a different direction than many others are taking. I love it.

  • Cristal S.4 months ago

    I love your haiku! It somehow stays with you like a song that's stuck in your head. Especially the last line. 🍂

  • Sandy Gillman4 months ago

    This is beautifully haunting.

  • Oooo, I love the way you referred to those leaves as slow rot. And wow, I never knew of lurid's backstory. Loved your Haiku!

  • Sid Aaron Hirji4 months ago

    Love it. Like the morbid tone too

  • A negative perspective of autumn, yet definitely unique. I love it!

  • Mark Graham4 months ago

    Kind of a depressing little haiku, but true to fact. What a great French/English vocabulary lesson to boot. Good job.

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