Back to October
For Miranda
I stand outside with my eyes closed
I feel the brisk air on my cheeks
It’s in my hair and tickling my nose
I listen to the leaves as they roll down the street
Dancing and twisting and sliding in the breeze
I take it all in,
Just for a couple of weeks
Every year I’m back again,
I’m back to sixteen.
I’m back to standing outside looking at your street,
The colors and the smells,
The decay and the treats
Fall was different when you were around
It’s like my whole world changed
Fall was you and fall was me
Somehow that’s stuck as I’ve aged
I don’t miss you,
Life is better now
But I still can’t shake that notion
I loved you then and it was new
New glances
New touches
New emotions
We started in fall and we ended in spring
The opposite of the usual way
I’m glad that it happened but I wouldn’t go back
My seasons are better this way
But still there you are
The first thing on my mind when the seasons start to change
A little reminder of sixteen every year
Like something paused and stayed in that stage
That dirty blonde hair and black peacoat
The brown boots and silly love stricken gaze
I’m glad she’s still out there in some universe
Dancing around in some forgotten happy place
She’d never guess where her life would go
Or the happiness that she’s found since then
That you’re not around and that will happen soon
When the trees fill out again
But now they’re changing from green to orange and yellow and red and then bare
And I’ve grown and I’ve changed and I’m different too,
There’s no more blonde in my hair
But I still go back every October to that girl and that love that she knew
I don’t know why
I know it’s not for you
But still I’m glad that I do
About the Creator
Randy Riley
anxious, scattered, figuring it out
Comments (2)
New, new, new.... your own kind of springtime in October, and to taste an echo of it every year ❤
Great poem! Wonderful job!