Autumn Aching

A Poem

Come, you call to me

In my warmth and bare-

Legged sleep. It’s time

To kindle awake -

Reminisce, become

Heavy with longing.

I touch the aspen

Leaf, thumb its velvet

Gold upon my palm,

Delighted and full

Of sorrow at her

Fleeting, wonderful

Life. Please stay awhile,

I whisper. I pray.

Tire-swing afternoons

Sway and circle here

In my memory -

Autumns long ago,

Clear skies, inviting

Leaves raked into mounds

For my pure delight.

Why else would they fall?

I dart into the

Bookstore. The stillness

And hush excite me.

Castles to explore,

Creatures to befriend,

Faraway worlds at

My fingertips. Life

Unlived - alive here

Within the silence.

Come, become young, you

Tend to my growing

Hurry, a father

Lulling an anxious

Child to rest. Be still.

Delight in fairy-

Tales and wonder at

This beautiful world.

Pumpkins plucked from their

Vines, the harvest brought

Close, cradled in barns

And pantries and pies.

Sustenance for our

Souls, God’s plenty found

Faithful as the earth

Sighs out, her labor

Complete. We thank Him.

Forests sway, their trunks

Groan in autumn praise,

The reds and golds of

Ancient days laid down

On earthen altar:

Their sacrifice of

Trust in Providence.

Come, you call to me

In my readiness - 

Anticipation

Of unknown forests,

Of long known delights,

Of comfort and grief

At this - the herald

Of the end of this

Year - the beginning

Of all that will be.