Autumn is a beautiful wake
with the orange
and red colors it makes
a funeral of leaves.
Birds and
butterflies flutter south
away from the mouth
of the winter stream
of cold air
Leaf raker’s it makes
of us
and we pile them
and children
jump into them
and the leaves
in orange and
the trees in black
dance for us
against a blue sky
I am always a little sad in autumn
to see the summer go
like a friend leaving town for a year
packing his shorts
and the Bermuda shirt
and his sandals
Every Spring I say
I have made it through
another winter,
every Fall I wonder
will this be the one
It’s best to just
jump in the pile of leaves
instead
david michael jackson