It is in the golden brown of brittle leaves

that I think of you most.

My breath,

suspended momentarily

in a cloud of warmth against the crisp air,

expanding from its small containment

and reaching to the earth and sky,

breathes for you.

 

You exist between each click of the second hand,

when time momentarily stops

and all that can be heard

is the deafening roar

in the silence of a stilled heart.

The mornings are darker, the days shorter,

the hours precious as time slips by….

I wonder if I had only loved you more

would you still be here today?

The dates set in stone

that I have traced my fingers over

again and again

are etched in my mind

much more complete

than the memory of your face

that has faded with time.

Yet I know you by heart.

 

It was in the golden brown of brittle leaves

where you said your goodbyes

in a moment only we shared,

when the world around us

disappeared for a time,

leaving us floating in suspended reality

where all I felt was you

fluttering faintly from my grasp.

Yet with each setting of the summer moon

and rising of the autumn sun,

when the leaves turn from green

to red

to a golden brown,

I smile at your spirit

that exists in the laughter of a child

and floats in the wind

with the remnants of trees.

Peace has melted together

the broken figments

of my injured heart,

revealing the beauty in leaves of golden brown,

gently holding them before letting them drift away,

watching them stay strong in the wind

while knowing they could shatter in an instant,

setting you free with a delicate prayer

of love for an autumn’s child.

 

  

September 23rd 2002 

 

Email me at winecountry.singlemom@yahoo.com