autumn wonder

by Linda M. Crate

i love autumn and all
her colors
splashing life in a
world
too oft devoid of
light and laughter,
her chorus of leaves will
dance with me
in the wings of the
wind;
and she never scaled me
in judgment like summer
of freezes me
in winter's coldest
blankets
of buries me beneath
flowers that make me feel
inadequate—
she is perfect
in all her laughter
a season
of apples, pumpkins,
and explosion
of giggles
psalmed in the
limbs of
trees;
she kissed me
with wonder
and draws me out
into the woods—
sometimes
i find only animals
but there are
times i find pieces of
myself that i forgot
when the world ridiculed
me years ago.