Autumn is the time to plunder all the things from hereunder
fruit and vegetables are picked and plowed to fill our baskets like the clouds
we plan for what soon will be
wind and snow upon the trees
but now is not the time to dwell
for now it’s time to sit a spell
I look at leaves upon the trees and see the ages pass
they fall like tears from my face as old I get up in years
Fall is a transition period moving things from here to there
looking forward and looking back to see what is for real
wind picks up the leaves on puffs and blows them round the yard
I sit upon the ground and become engulfed
the reds and oranges, yellows and browns swirl around my head
earth and death are featured here but life is not unspent
I feel the nuts, seeds of life, that have fallen from the trees
and one day I know, that trees they too will be
as days grow short we enter in the closest point to the sun
temperature drops, days grow darker and planning has begun
the time has been when you were alone and now you need some love
to hold you through the winter
so search each day for that sweet love that may be true forever
animals grow tired, and plan for sleep
they fatten or pack away lots to eat
like the grasshopper who plays all summer long
granting the world his beautiful song
some of us are not like ants
we humans need to gather our plants
time now grows short with age it comes
the end of life weighs upon us with the years
but night shall not fall with the final beat of drums
the final moment echoes in both ears
one day soon I know the leaves will fall
streaming from trees as tears from my face
and sad it may be there is nothing to stop what is to befall
each man and woman will encounter death’s cold embrace
time flows like a stream sweeping our lives along as leaves in water
autumn is like elder years
a tall man stands when young like spring moving into summer
but over time he bends like summer moving into autumn
as fall marches forward the world ages around us
leaves turn and die falling from their once life giving trees
I think of the things I learned while spending autumn days in school
of Greek and Roman mythology of how the seasons came
there was a goddess in Mediterranean lore of harvest who bore the charge
of life and death both seasons and of men
she had a daughter Persephone who was virgin pure as snow
the evil god of the underworld came and stole her away
he used his wits to find a way to keep her close to him
he promised his brother he would give her back if nothing she had eaten
but she had done, just that, some say, so he made a different deal
her mother could have her half the time and generous thought he be
so every year when her daughter descends the goddess grows sad
the trees and plants all wither away until the time is nigh
and then they’re reunited in spring and all is once again alive
I learned in school that this was how the ancients explained these times
for it was not within their grasp to see the vision true
school is what we all went through and ages it does pass
but for those who seek more truth, it is still summer too
we now approach the one year mark of calendars all so old
of stories and legends of the end of the age something to behold
some prepare like Fall is here by stocking up on things
thinking that if things go south that they will have the rings
a hype some say nothing will come
but autumn we are in
if Mayan and Hopi legends are true we are so near the end
but will it be that we will fall like leaves into the bin
will we be raked across the Earth in piles like leaves on grass
or will it be like the smooth unheard twenty-first century pass
I know that death stalks us all, especially this time of year
but who will know how flows will go in this river of life unclear
all these thoughts of what will be are somewhat all remiss
of what can be when autumn is past that somehow we dismiss
if life is truly like a stream and we are leaves a float
then one day soon we will become much more than just a note
we will become the basis of new life, a new growth
perhaps not what we would like but something more verbose
so let’s not look at good or bad, I know it’s hard to do
but all my thoughts written here are absolutely true
as autumn leaves, fall from trees
flowing simply on their way gliding on the breeze
like tears that caress my face when death comes knocking too