Autumn Leaves
by Tom Hyland

I sit here at my window,
staring out into space.
My mind is a-wandering,
searching for your pretty face.

A gentle breeze caresses the trees,
bristling and whistling your name.
When I hear those Autumn leaves,
I breathe a quiet sigh — what a shame!

The golds and reds and oranges,
twirl and twist within the mist,
whispering of a Love once known,
and I miss those lips once kissed.

The olive greens and browns and limes,
these leaves perceive as they intermingle,
reminding me that I have myself to blame,
for once again being single!

But pause a moment, consider this,
these falling, dying leaves are not in vain.
For they will rot, decompose, and re-fertilize,
with each droplet of gentle rain.

So is there a lesson here for me to learn,
as I ponder Nature’s course?
What is the bond ‘tween these leaves and me,
perhaps old nourishment for a New Love’s force?

Would you suppose, like Nature’s clothes,
we have to shed the old to become quite bold,
and frolic amidst the Holly and the Ivy,
or is this Ode just — one man’s Lovelorn Folly?