Fall
 

Hush!
A careless footstep in this wash of brown fall,
Even a word spoken too loudly,
Will scare this timid autumn far away.

Take care, it rests so lightly now.
The branches are black against the iron sky.
And boughs that sheltered you now can't cover themselves.

Gone are the summer smells of pine resin and sand.
Left, the dank freshness of slowly rotting leaves,
The calm before many storms.

Can you remember those stories of childhood,
Where animals talked and were kind as folk should be?
Adventures crept from the hollow hills, while enchantments quivered the air.

One by one the golden leaves of childhood fall,
Magic drowned among the roots,
By light, persistent rain.

Now I must follow the path to winter, 
without the banks of burning splendour
To gladden my passing.

Breath's clouds lost in the drisk and drear.
The bladed wind makes the way more lonely,
The light cut thin, the day much older.

Be still!
Count this falling treasure, hope the buds and cantlet acorns grow.
No paths can lead you back the way you came,
And only Christ can let you find the Spring.
 
 
 

Andrew Charles Dallaston  ( 1973 )
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