Before I knew your name, I loved the fall.
I loved to see the leaves change, from green
(my favourite colour)
To yellow, orange, red and brown
Before falling from their branches to the earth below
Their scent sweet and wild
And I loved it.
I loved the fall because when I was young
My father would rake the leaves into piles
For myself and my siblings to play in
I loved the chill of the season
Seeing my breath in the crisp air
A tangible and ethereal sign that I was alive
I would play-pretend that I was a dragon
A dragon bundled in jacket, scarf and cap
Knocking over the flimsy, leaf-made castles
Built by my brothers and sister
My father would fuss once the playing was done
At how we had made such a mess of his work
And then rake them into piles again
While I would peer under stones in the garden
To find snails just to see them
And I loved it.
Before I knew your name, I loved the fall.
I would wander the woods and sit by the streams
Watching turtles dig into the soft banks
Peering at the sharp, clear blue sky
Between the waving, windblown branches.
I would climb trees
Scrape knuckle and knee on the bark
Home in time for supper
Or at least bed
And I loved it.
But now that I know your name, I love the fall.
I love to see the leaves change from green
To the colour of your hair
(My favourite colour)
I love to watch them fall to the earth
In a windblown dance that dazzles and delights
And I am reminded of your smile
And I love it
I love the fall because since now I know your name
There is not one thing that I cannot find it in
Not a sound in nature that I do not hear it in
From the whistling wind between bare branches
To the murmur of the stream
To the exclamation points of footsteps on leaves
In the heady scent of the autumn forest I find you
In the cold on my ears and the backs of my hands
In the last bloom in the garden before winter
Which, when it comes, I will love
Because I know your name
And after that, each day, each season, until, in the end, they run out
I will love, because I know your name
Because I love your name
Because I love you.