rising from the gritty earth
to a chilly day in October
love blooms with the pump-
kins

in warm coffees, hay rides,
turning leaves, and harvest
moons you can see love do
her best work

a young couple holds hands
for the first time, smiling as
if they’d never smiled before,
and all across the country
the green turns to orange and
the orange turns to brown

but before the last life seeps
from the last leaf, love will
creep into the hearts of just
enough souls

and even as the land freezes,
and the smiling couple turns
cold and stiff and brittle, love
will still survive, in memories
of Halloween night and that
kiss shared beneath a clear
evening

soon, spring will come, and
love will run free once again
and teach a new generation
how to plant and harvest her
crop