Crushing Leaves in Autumn

Crushing Leaves in Autumn

I walk where branches bow,

and hear the leaves surrender.

Crushing leaves in autumn,

a chorus underfoot.

Each step becomes a song,

a crackle of farewell.

The trees have shed their voices,

and left them on the ground.

The air is sharp with change,

a chill upon the breath.

The sky leans low and heavy,

as shadows stretch their hands.

I crush the brittle echoes,

their colors fading fast.

Gold and crimson scatter,

like ashes on the earth.

Crushing leaves in autumn,

reminds me all things end.

What blooms will one day wither,

what rises must fall down.

Yet beauty lies in falling,

in knowing life must turn.

The crunch beneath my shoes,

becomes a hymn of time.

I gather some to keep,

a memory pressed and saved.

But most I let return,

to feed the soil again.

Crushing leaves in autumn,

I walk and hear the truth.

That endings can be gentle,

and endings make us grow.