The day before the first leaf fell
I hiked an Appalachian trail
Just a small one, not The one,
My spirit falling first.
The cold was itching in
And I couldn't see the sky
Only canopies of warm colors
A doomed sunset of its own
Telling me it's time
To find a way to hunker down.
Soon it would be night
Soon it would be cold
Soon it would be barren
And I could see a sky
With droplets of hope
Where an ocean should be
And I would shiver, patiently,
Surviving on those stars and poison berries.
Until, finally,
A tsunami in slow motion
Will make its way across the sky
And I will feel the life return
To my limbs and to the birds
That sing the song of Spring
And new beginnings.
