A Bridge Across Autumn

I have planted autumn’s seed.

Autumn’s where my year truly begins

The cozy inbetween the hot and the cold.

A sickly shift from summer’s upbeat song,

To winter’s weary wishes.

My summer memories are hazy

Names forgotten,

As that unnamed leaf’s descent.

An auburn butterfly,

That flutters bitterly,

Liftoff in sweeping scents of caramel and pie.

Shall I wish for this year’s seed to be the seed of pine?

Security in cones. Ensconced.

Fibonacci spirals in a pattern that never fades.

Or the seed of maple?

A syrupy plea with sticky fingers

Cinnamon masks the scent of my grass-stained pants.

The ineffable notes of autumn’s smells elude me

As does the taste of its slippery sweetness

Or perhaps its zing:

Pumpkin spice, turmeric buds.

Autumn’s when my paths retrace

As my setbacks squirrel away

When I pull away from winter’s long embrace, I fear for who I’ll be

I know not what winter brings,

The faces I’ll see,

Frozen red.

Wrinkles at the mouth’s corners,

Conversations regretted -- burned pink with hot salt.

But winter’s gaze mummifies

Amber formed,

Not to be pulled apart.

Not just another friend by chance,

But a brother by fate.

My seed must grow through the snow

Oblivious to what’s beyond the clouds

Will this tree desiccate?

Or flourish with the year’s bounty of snow, sleet, and love?

This next year is purgatory.

Waiting at the gates of each season’s brief interludes.

Judged only when the bark, quickly, thickens.