I love the way the leaves show their true colors every year right around my birthday
And
I love the way the trees sigh and fall asleep every winter under new white blankets
It's the in between seasons I can't stand
The hot tears of snow running down muddy sidewalks
And
The betrayal of red red leaves falling into the sand at the beach
But we're stuck in an in between season right now, and it's
Enchanting
The ground is littered with leaf bones that crunch under my feet
The trees are bare and spindly little things
Waiting for winter.
It's an ugly ugly world
But I love it.

Maybe it's the way the ground has stopped spinning.
The clouds hold their breath,
Not a single tree sways in the nonexistent wind.
Maybe it's the smell of the air,
The smell of nothing.
In fall the air is laden with the heavy aroma of wet leaves
And
In winter the air is so cold it bites the inside of your nose.
Right now, it's empty.
Inhale, exhale, nothing;
It's wonderful.

We make a perfect metaphor,
This in between season and I.
Maybe that is the reason I love it so.
Two unlike things with so much in common:
We're stuck, not moving forward and not looking back,
Full of emptiness
Holding our breaths
Teetering on the edge.
I'll let you know when they fall.
The snowflakes, I mean.