An Autumn TaleA Poem by David Lewis PagetThe trees were talking in foreign tongues, The leaves had plenty to say, As he stood deep in the golden grove Watching the treetops sway. A gentle breeze had caught at their breath To carry their whispered tales, From tree to tree in the woodland depth While the Autumn winds prevailed.
And golden leaves lay thick at their feet A magic carpet of death, Fluttering down with their lives complete At the time of their final breath. But she lay still on a mound of leaves And smiled at the man she loved, While he looked up like a man who grieves At the sway of the trees above.
‘Why is the Autumn fall so sad, Could it be that they feel like us? Their Summer went, and at last they’re spent And fall from the trees like dross.’ ‘They’ve had their season of love,’ she sighed, ‘While ours is still ahead,’ ‘But even we,’ he had then replied, ‘Face the day when we’ll both be dead.’
He joined her down on the bed of leaves And she kissed his lips and his brow, ‘I never think about death,’ she said, ‘But only the here and now.’ ‘Don’t you listen to what’s been said, Those fluttering leaves in the air, They’re asking, what’s it like to be dead In a tone of utter despair.’
‘How could you know just what they say, They’re swaying trees in the breeze, There isn’t a dictionary, per se, That a man can follow with ease.’ ‘Haven’t you heard the tender moan They make, when the wind soughs through, Their sadness echoes in every tone And it kills me, looking at you.’
‘You have to stop, you’re frightening me,’ She said as she pulled away, ‘I thought that we came to make sweet love On a beautful Autumn day.’ ‘But what will we think when our skin is dry, And wrinkled, so many years, Maybe the love that we feel today Will lie in a horse-drawn hearse.’
He looked again and he watched her age So brittle, an Autumn leaf, Dry and brown, he was looking down While she stared with eyes of grief. ‘You've taken away our springtime, Joe, And reached for the Autumn rain, I only know that I have to go And I’ll not come here again!’
David Lewis Paget © 2015 David Lewis PagetFeatured Review
Reviews
|
StatsAuthor
Related WritingPeople who liked this story also liked..
|