Fall

Carmine takes over,

plays tag with copper, crimson, cherry

and paints our world rosy.

Flushed, Autumn is falling for us

and I'm tripping up too on my

too soon too eager bashful wishes while my whimsy

floats on and you fall to red.

Leaves ride on whistling wind and tones turn tangerine,

bidding scarlet farewell,

brightening the blood of once-lives and

the sun sets in.

We are warm, willing, awake.

Wide-eyed beginners,

we jump in and resuscitate life

and today falls.

Shadows scour our maze

so we fight our way through

'til night ceases to stay and light races over us,

saffron sweeping a path back to day

and we've run circles through this

twist-and-turn puzzle

to find ourselves back at the start.

And we fall to our knees, covered in leaves

but we dust off and stand up and stare at the sun,

all worries now done.

I'm no fool. I've found gold.