Autumn
Urge me to drop every leaf I don’t need
Every task or habit I repeat past its season
Every sorrow I rehearse
Each unfulfilled hope I recall
Every person or possession
to which I cling-
Until my branches are bare,
until I hold fast
to Nothing
Blow me about
in your wild iron sky,
crush
all that’s puffed up,
fluff
all that in me needs
to go to seed,
send my shadows to sleep.
Tutor me
through straining night winds
In the passion of moan and pant
The gift of letting go
At the moment of most abundance
In the way of
falling apples, figs, maple leaves, pecans.
Open my eyes
to your languid light,
let me stare in your face
until I see no difference
between soar and fall
until I recognize
eternity
in single breaths,
faint whispers of cool air
through lungs.
Show me the way of dying
in glorious boldness
Yellow,gold, orange, rust, red, burgundy.
Monza Neff