Autumn has taught me
All I know about falling
Trusting the earth's old
Arms to catch me as I
Drop like crystal tears
From the eye of a storm

My skin's yellow-brown
Tint resembles the trees
Dissolving into miles of
Leaf-strewn pavement
A gilded world born
From late summer's ash

Hope is delivered of a
Broken glory, and quiet
Cracks in flawless skies
Are doorways revealing
The private dwelling of
My innermost secret

That I am vulnerable
Facing the world with
Eyes still wet from a
White amniotic sleep
Yearning for the warmth
Of a sheltering womb

Though changing seasons
Have tightened my chest
Into a shell, I've remained
Both old and newly born
A vessel for an ancient age
Of ever expanding want

Still pulsing in the long
Transparent strands of
Rain-like hair on my brow
As my body lunges into the
Downward-spiralling wind
Of an endless season of loss