When it’s Fall and it’s cold & wet but I’m brave & hopeful anyway …

A // W // F

Rain falls.
The trees flame.

Morning.

*

I step into the car and find it coated with wet leaves, the brown foliage glued to grill & windshield and hood.

I start the engine, and a flock of small black birds shudders upward.  Lifts through gray light.

*

On the road I am driving fast now.  Water hisses in the wheelwells, and already I feel the passing of what was — the coming of the cold.

Come on.

The words rise to my lips and I speak them like a dare — come on — green eyes narrowed.

Come, Autumn, and all it represents:  come fine lines and frost and ice.

Come, gray hairs curled in my brush.  Black boughs crosshatched on white snow.

Come:  blue veins and blizzard — I’ll climb my fading body like a ladder into Next.  Laugh at the days to come.

(I am not always so brave, but I am today — and that’s enough).

Well, come on then.

*

The car slides forward through rainwet gold.  The trees shed their summer leaves and I shed the past year like a suit of skin splitting open down the spine.

This place is too small for me now.

I flick on the windshield wipers and watch the cold rain disappear.  The wet leaves loosen from the hood, fluttering back.

A glance in the rearview and already they’re behind me:  dry dead things, skittering and tumbling in the road.

*

Pedal to the floor.

Gone.

34 Comments

  3. I like the American name for the season-Fall. It sums up perfectly the descent of leaves and the slumber that is to spread itself upon the earth.
    Winter is my favourite season, and Autumn heralds my cherished half of the year. It is not often I am caught sporting a tan 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Andy, I need to steal a page from your playbook!:)

      Every year I *dread* winter, but this year I’ve decided I’m going to find a way to love it if I can. I think the trick is to fill my home with good people and good food, music and art and laughter.

      There. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  5. Its summer in my country at the moment. From reading ur expression of autumn for the first time ever im actually looking forward to our autumn. I have always imagined an autumn wedding just thinking about the beautiful background( brown and wet), dead leaves on the ground and branchy trees….what a beautiful picture it would make….white gown over dark brown dead leaves!!! ….
    ….me and my imagination…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

              1. Hahahahaha…well the of South Africa im at is extremely warm it can get up 40°C in a day. Im used to it. Its called Mpumalanga meaning sunrise so ya it explains itself. But its also extremely beautiful in the summer very green.

                Liked by 1 person

        1. I found it fascinating (really) that you read this piece as poetry.

          It’s mostly a kind of journal entry, written the way that I tend to think … Your response stretches out my conception of what poetry actually *is,* in a helpful way.

          So. Thank you. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          1. I think today’s writer have expanded the bounds of poetry. I live in NY, and I have had the chance to hear artists recite poetry in “rap” form. It is delivered in another pace and style, but it is still poetry. No, I should be thanking you, I always leave your page full of inspiration to write.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

    1. Thank you!

      A year ago, when the camera to my 4S started getting glitchy and slow, I figured out that I could produce some really fun images while turning the phone while snapping the picture.

      I have fancier equipment now, but that method still works for me. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you!! Isn’t it fun??

      I love snapping while the camera is moving … It’s a kind of game for me, seeing what comes out, and always a good way of getting out of a rut.

      Thanks for stopping by … I always love seeing you here! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment