JDaniel and the boys next door have been waiting and waiting for the leaves from the birch trees in our backyard to fall.
When there was finally enough on the ground, they had a wonderful time playing in them and with them. I loved getting to take pictures of the boys enjoying the leaves at the end of last week.
My maternal grandmother loved to quote the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer when I was little. She would recite it word by word. When tried to decide how to share pictures of their joyous leaf play, I decided to use part of that poem.
The first stanza and last stanza of this poem are Joyce Kilmer’s. The rest of the stanzas are my words.
I think that I shall never see
Boys more happy playing beside a tree.
The leaves it shed
won’t be left for dead.
They will be raked into a pile
And jumped into preschool style.
The leaves will be thrown into the air
to descend inside clothes and onto hair.
They will be loaded in a boy’s car
and driven, but not very far. 
Those leaves will become a brand new heap
They will be jumped into again and again by boys who leap.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
This post is linked to Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop and Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.
P.S. JDaniel is wearing his yellow Thankfulness Tree leaf that says “Dad”. He said he wanted his dad close to him.
What a lovely post! The poem was perfect and all the extra stanzas in between.
Haven’t been here in a while! It’s great to see you again. Hope all is well with you! 🙂
Visiting today from Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop
Cute kid, cute poem–very good!
Stopping by from Writers Workshop.
What a beautiful post! I love that he is wearing his “dad” leaf. That is just so sweet.
Great post, love the little poem and how you worked it with the pictures:-)
Delightful B post, now I know what’s been missing from our leaf pile, boys!
It’s almost like our boys were playing in leaves together today, across cyberspace 🙂
I loved this; it takes so little to make children happy. There are enough leaves in our backyard for the kids to dive in. We just have to get the gumption to rake them from their current all over the place state.
that poem is perfect. it’s true!
cheers.
BRILLIANT Boys at play loved the addaptation of the poem as well
The pictures were the perfect compliment to your beautiful words.
Love the poem, love the pictures. Leaves are so very fun aren’t they? We have a ton of them, I love to rake a pile at the end of our slide.
The Joyce Kilmer Forest is located in western NC. We visited there once or twice over the years. They have a plaque errected with this famous poem etched for visitors to read. I love the photos. Our kiddos loved doing what your little guy and his playmate were doing. Shoot, I love doing it,too! =D
I posted this SAME thing today! my girls are having a blast with the leaves! 🙂
I love that poem.
They look like they’re having fun!
Ah, this is lovely! I posted about fall in my neighbourhood today as well, though not nearly so eloquently. Cute photos!
This is beautiful, both your poem and the photos! Thanks for sharing!
i remember long ago when my son had so much fun with the leaves…
thanx for the memories…
visiting from AlphabeThursday!
~victoria~
One of my favorite posts. Love the thoughts and photos!
What a sweet post!
Such a darling post. Especially for a tree (and little boy) lover like me!
=D
Wonderful fun! We are loving playing in the leaves too! Would love for you to come link this up at tomorrow’s Outdoor Play Party!
Superb images!
Thanks too for stopping by!
What a great post for autumn! My girls like nothing better than to rake up a big pile of leaves and jump in! They taught our little 3 year old neighbor the joys of leaf jumping this fall.
Are you kidding me??? We live in the same town. 🙂 How cool is that??? I not only have to join your blog because I love it, I have to join because we are neighbors. 🙂
Great Post! Your little boys are just adorable!!!
Our girls wanted to make piles too, but at their age they just couldn’t get them big enough to be very soft during the landing.
Dana
Perfect poem for the pictures. Leaves are so different to kids than they are for adults.
I loved the poem and the pictures are so adorable!!! Glad he had such a fun time. 🙂
No way, you’re not a fool…..poems are mostly made by people whose heart is ready to explode in utter happiness…and who better to write poems than a Mom, right?!!!!
That is so very, very cute!
Nice adaptation of the poem!
Too cute! Whether or not they remember these snippets from their childhood, it’s obvious you will hold them close to your own heart. 🙂 What a great poem! Look forward to your prompt response next week!
Lovely photos and adpatatio of the poem. JDaniel is getting big!
A beautiful poem to go with wonderful photos!
Nice to see this small kid working..
Leaves are wonderful, aren’t they? One of fall’s biggest joys.
Boys and leaves just go together!
Looks like a lot of fun! We love playing in the leaves, too! Thanks for linking up to the Outdoor Play Party!
I love the pics and the poem that go with them! Looks like it was a really fun day. We don’t really get to experience the seasons where I live. Mostly evergreens around here. Wish that I could jump around in piles of leaves too!
It’s a good thing I was just with my two little grandsons, or I’d find this post too, too poignant. There’s something about little boys and leaves – what a lot of fun they must have had!
very sweet.
I missed the posting deadline for Alphabe-Thursday this week…feel free to stop by, tho, and check out my take on boys with leaves… 🙂
That’s a perfect poem for the season! Love all the pics…oh how I love fall!
Oh man! This was the sweetest post. It’s neat to see their blossoming friendship! What a fun series of pictures!
That’s the best kind of play!! We don’t have many leave here, but once in a while I get a pile together.
This is great! I love that you wrote a poem to go with the great pictures of your child at play. Your words and the author’s are both awesome!
Thanks so much for linking up to the outdoor play link up. Be sure to let your readers know you linked up so they know where to find you. The more ideas that get shared the better!
Precious poetry and pics! (Love your verses you created and added to Joyce Kilmer’s.
Blessings & Aloha!
Thank you so much for stopping by and for your kind comment! I am a wee bit behind in my visit to thank you!
That is a beautiful poem. I love watching kids play in a pile of leaves.
How Adorable! Love the images and the poem creation!
Love this poem and the pictures!!! Visiting you from the SITSgirl. Ah the never ending raking of leaves.
Loved reading this! Apparently I really liked kicking the autumn leaves about when I was small.