puddle break

"funny but it seems I always wind up here with you"
--The Carpenters

burnt orange
and sienna
take me places
where words fail
as leaves fall,
where I pray for rain
to gather
in puddles
suitable for stomping,
and gray skies
to dampen me,
until I wind up here,
chilled
and wet
with eyes open.
and ready

Some Always Remains

It's a kind of magic

that these warm Autumn winds
blow in memories,
hidden on the backs
of the leaves which
swirl around my feet.
I find my childhood home,
preserved in miniature,
near the stem of a brilliant
maple leaf
and I sit, mouth agape,
until the wind circles around
and carries off
most of what it carried in.

Sometimes Open Eyes

Versicolor leaves
layer themselves
over still green grass
as sun splashed highlights
fall across these remaining droplets
of rain.
This street-side beauty
finds my breath
catching in my chest
as I marvel that this world
is so close to my own
yet days seem so far apart.

*In response to sundayscribblings.blogspot.com

Why we have more than sight

Lying on my back,

under a tree,

in the woods,

wanting to capture

the perfect image

of a leaf in descent.

It seems important

to try and focus

on one leaf

among millions.

That there is something

one flight

against blue sky

can say.

But warm sun

distracts me,

begging me

to close my eyes

and listen

to the woods

whisper

and sigh.

I can hear

the sound of leaf

on leaf

as they crash

to the ground

with all the force

they can muster.

A slip of sound,

never noticed,

perhaps

only imagined.

Beauty tried to hide

Under matted hair
and mottled clothes
she shuffled through
wet grass and fallen leaves,
picking up stray slugs
and carrying them to safety
before cloaking herself
under piles of orange
and umber.
But green eyes
and giggles
give her away.