Autumn Blessing: Falling into Joy

There’s a new feel in the air today,

the wind’s scent is beyond the chill of fall.

Golden hues light the trees reaching higher

toward a deeper blue of sky than I have ever seen.

Forgive me, I say to my reasonable friend,

for wanting to fly into that gorgeous blueness

along with the leaves!

I hear a calling from somewhere:

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The wind comes rushing,

nudging the leaves into letting go,

and swirling in the grandest dances of the year.

Leaves returning to rest on earth, gather together

as if to remember the warming love under the sun.

We gather them in our open hands and press them into our faces,

the sweet scent, ours for this moment… this moment…and this ...   

With no thought of winter’s darkness, the children run with abandon,

falling into the lightness and joy of it all.

Keep these moments in a pocket of your memory,

like glittering coins of bright gold and royal blues.

Pull them out now and again and touch them,

when when a dark cover rules the day,

to remind you the light never really went away.

  **********

The inspiration for this autumn poem came from a moment while visiting an overlook at the top of a mountain near Santa Fe to enjoy the golden aspens and the magnificent view from this high perch. My friend and I noticed something scribbled on the railing of the overlook. It read:

“I came here to kill myself. Then I saw the view. Don’t give up! There is so much beauty in the world-” This message profoundly affected me, and I realized a desire to not let life pass me by, by going unconscious to the small rarities of beauty that exist in each day of my life, whether in Mother Earth or the people in my life. I attribute this experience to a perfect timing to re-awaken something in me about trusting in the purposefulness of my life, and every life..

Sophia

Revision on 11-1 1-23