Autumn

We blinked, and suddenly it’s fall. I wrote this poem last autumn but kept it squirrelled away until now. I’m more drawn to writing poetry these days even though my focus is my novel; it offers a welcome break between chapters.

when i doubt

the dimming light

caught in drops

like headlights in

eyes

cast down on a wet

black street,

my head lowers

into hands.

another west coast storm.

when i fear

your frosty night

feeling stops

breath frozen to your

touch

i resist tendril

fingers,

undoing fists

like knots.

a warmth in my darkness.

when i fall

during the fight

like a clock

i stumble exposed

out

to face you under

the oak,

a gust signals

the leaves.

green amber red and go.

when they take

their final flight

positions locked

on your orders they

jump

like swimmers in synch

perform,

with promises

to return.

sky bursting with applause.

when we meet

skin glowing bright

after a walk

in a warmer season

past

i remember our

pattern,

tempestuous

and dazzling.

a foghorn siren song.