​The Song of the Letting it all Go 

 
All morning, in the raspy vocals
             of birds  
                         chattering in trees,
 
and in the slow solemn march of deer
           grazing deep
                       in the wood,
 
in the topsy-turvy argument
           of the stream
                       rolling rapid over the stones,
 
you heard it in your ear, the one
            song of the letting it all go.
 
All afternoon, in the riptide
                 of day-glow
                              turning inward,
 
under the broadsides of plants
            turning amber
                         and redolent,
 
under the maple tree turning radiant
            and colorful
                        before emptying itself
 
all over the ground
            in a scattering
                        of forlorn gold hearts,
 
you heard it in your ear,
            the one song of the letting it all go.
 
All evening, under the tolling
            of vesper bells
                        in the church steeples,
 
under the high crest of clouds
           cloaking the new
                       autumn moon,
 
under the vaporous street lights
            casting shrill light
                        all over the sidewalks
 
and down, over the river’s
           green surrendering
                    into aurora and light,
 
you heard it in your ear, the one song
            of the letting it all go.





Ken Meisel is a poet and psychotherapist from the Detroit area. He is a 2012 Kresge Arts Literary Fellow, Pushcart Prize nominee, Swan Duckling chapbook contest winner, winner of the Liakoura Prize, and the author of six poetry collections: The Drunken Sweetheart at My Door (FutureCycle Press: 2015), Scrap Metal Mantra Poems (Main Street Rag: 2013), Beautiful Rust (Bottom Dog Press: 2009), Just Listening (Pure Heart Press: 2007), Before Exiting (Pure Heart Press: 2006), and Sometimes the Wind (March Street Press: 2002). His work is in over 80 national magazines including Cream City Review, Rattle, Ruminate, Midwest Gothic, Concho River Review, San Pedro River Review, Boxcar Review, Kentucky Review, Birdfeast, Muddy River Poetry Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Lake Effect, Third Wednesday, and Bryant Literary Review.