like a slender leaf

that clings to a branch in the autumn wind -

swaying, swaying -

so too, I cling

to feelings that only come this time of year.

time can stand still - if you let it

but it takes that "letting go"

and embracing the fall -

swaying, swaying, tumbling -

into the sacred, leafy, mossy earth-bed

that autumn has so carefully prepared.

Poem and painting, © Anitra Redlefsen, 2005