Fall

This coming fall
One might find that
The wind may grow brisk
The days, shorter and
The nights, long and heavy
But the leaves have not a care—-
It’s a second spring for them.
Flush with warmth and
longing for a new embrace,
They take their easy descent
from the branches.

But for us men, it’s not so easy.

I thought it’d be wise
to prepare for the season
To satisfy my sartorial whims
With some coats, cardigans,
boots to keep the warmth within.
The cold’s coming is indisputable after all
Like the fact that that you’re with him—-
The earth moves round the sun
Another day to depart,
Another day having begun,
In these fall days
I’ll be in the company of friends.

But I know how this sun sets.
I know how it will end.

Because this coming fall,
We’ll live on borrowed time and
Despite our conversations, coffee,
(sometimes, libations)
The little moments in between,
The days’ mundane and those mirthful nights,
I scarcely believe you’ll ever be mine.
And like the clocks this fall, we’ll someday rewind
to a time when we’re just memories,
and we’ll be strangers again.

But while the leaves take their leave,
From the embrace of the trees,
We labor in the fields:
The bitter harvest we must reap,
To which we must attend.
This coming fall, my hands grow numb
Growing cold, lacking others to hold.
And I do think to myself
Someday, I too will be tired and too old
To drive this plough with resolution
To sow again, and to sow again.
To sow again.

Shall I bury the thought deep within?
A grain of wheat upon the ground
Just to die
No new life to begin.

This coming fall
will be harder than most.
To see one you’ll never hold close.
But It’s fine to live through these times
Because, after all, seasons change.
Today like the leaves, I too will descend
This Fall is here today
But a new one shall come again.