A leaf blows in the wind

A leaf the color of rust sighs

and flutters to the ground

shaken and dying in this world

of decay.

The bright and glorious

September sun

Stirs a breeze—

With just a touch

of frost

 in it.

It bids its warning--

Winter will soon cover

This ground.

Sun’s brightest rays

Can not melt

the bitterness

Of that cold heart.

Winter will come
and,with it,

certain death

of lovely and living
and growing things.

The air sighs in anticipation of that

Dark cold night.

Autumn,
Where are your glorious colors now?

They have fallen to the ground
Like the burning embers of a fire

they flicker and fade into darkness.

I will miss you bright colors

I will miss the bright bold sky

Painted with white feathers

I will miss sunshine and warmth

And color.

Winter is so dark and bleak and gray.

I dread the darkness most of all.

But, a whisper of hope

is buried beneath

That frozen ground.

A leaf never forgets

Its origins
as it falls
next to the tree

It once called home.

In its decay, 
that leaf

feeds and nourishes 
the tree that once

fed and nourished it.

Its  glory is not lost.

It has only

Changed form.

Still it looks for the day when it can

Remain.

Forever green.

A day when there will be

No more death and decay.

A day of resurrection

and a life in the world to
Come.