The days of light give way now
to the lengthening nights. At noon
the warmth of the sun yields
to gusts of cold wind. My eyes travel
up the trunks of two trees, one bright,
one lost in shadow. Between them,
the red leaves of a distant oak dance
in the autumn-blue sky.
My heart drinks in all of it, playing
its beat-pause, beat-pause rhythm.
As I turn to walk down the path
that will climb up the next hill,
my breath flows in, then out.
It’s all one tender song—the up and down,
the in and out, the shadow and the light,
each in perfect balance with the other.
At dusk, I watch a nearly full moon
rise in a clear dark sky as a lone cricket’s
song rides the evening’s silence.