Autumn Road

The roads we travel will always lead us home...

Autumn Road 

By 

Carlos Lorenzo Estrada 

(A Perpetual Fall)

Upon this Autumn road I've walked 

With weary heart confess 

Beneath the fervent cypress leaves 

That clatter calm distress 

In wild grass that blooms emerald 

and bends in sorrow'd waves 

Each blade languished; from a song of wind

Within changing of her days

The blossoms of a florets Spring 

Paint lavish earth with vibrance 

As daisies frolic 'pon their stems 

In echo of their silence 

The tender weeping of a stream 

Pours gently upon its path

Crescendos into river's edge

And roars with nature's wrath

Wisterias draped with Spanish moss

Enchanting in their presence 

As dandelion seeds flutter like rain

In hauntingly abundance 

The call of tree birds ring aloud

On thorny aureate branches

With iridescent wings aflutter 

Take to wind in joyful dances

In the labor of my tired limbs 

I walk this path alone

In search for simple peace of mind

From quiet steps I roam 

For road was long; I've traveled far

And forgotten where and when

To reach the garden of God's soul

and find myself again... 

Author's Note

The path we roam will always lead us home. But home is not always the place we may have expected or wanted in our search. Love often works in such mysterious ways as we know. Hopes often flutter in the wind upon these roads and time often stops, or moves us forward to the point we have forgotten where and when our journey began. And when we look behind ourselves we find we are alone. With our thoughts, the wind, nature, and what we believe as God.

Reviews

[Marie]

What a BEAUTIFUL poem!!! You have captured the season of Autumn superbly in this sublime write. You have also captured the feeling of aloneness eloquently also. You fleck a wonderful picture of taking a walk with Mother Nature and the lovely tranquility which her presence brings to us as we walk with her. We are never alone. Even if there is nobody with us, we are with ourselves! For me, the poem is a wonderful spiritual write, Carlos. For me, home is a state of mind, like happiness, joy, etc. Home is anywhere we are happy to be. I just love this exquisite poetic gem and I, thank you for sharing it, Carlos. Wondrous write!!! Kudos well deserved...

[Víctor S]

Well it is difficult to comment a work so well done, so in first place I will extend both my congratulations and thanks to the author for this verses. They are obviously crafted with great care and bring images from all the spectrum of emotions. Also I give thanks because autumm is my favorite season of the year and you made me live it in this reading.
Said that, I will just give word to my take of the subjet of the road and the traveller, I happen to coincide with you in your note.
I also believe that the road and our life are such entwined metaphors that one could say they are that serpent biting its own "tale", is very difficult to say were one begins to diferentiate them, perhaps it is useless?
So the road sometimes ends in another place... an unexpected one, or maybe it is the destination we forgott we had in the begining?
Well so many questions here you arised in my mind and for that I thank you too. Please keep doing your great job.
Best journey poet.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you kindly my poet friend. Your words about the road of life is indeed thought provoking as well as philosophically true. In its brevity life is but a momentary spark. And as I mentioned to a friend recently a constant education that only ends in the finality of our last breath. It's only then that we graduate from it, and move on. To where, who knows? But all that accumulated knowledge is for a reason I believe. It has to be. I'm reminded of my youth. In third grade my best friend Stevie passed away after being struck by a drunk driver while playing out in the street. I remember both of us vowing we would see each other after summer vacation. I still remember and miss my friend. He's in the color of leaves when green in the summer and brown in the Autumn. I miss my grandmother who was this wise Guatemalan woman who loved to cook, sing, and gossip. I still hear her in the notes birds sing in the morning on their tree branches. Life is a metaphor for all these things beautiful and tragic. I encourage you to continue to have all those questions and hope you find answers in the art you choose to create from the love that resides within you. All from those beautiful colors of Autumn. CLE

[Víctor S]

A lots of thanks Carlos for those words and shared images of the past. Best journey.
BTW, Im my creative journey I recently finalized a new book called "Finales, una oportunidad para la autoconsciencia" (Endings, an opportunity for self-awareness). Is in spanish as you may have guessed by the title and is not a poetic endeavor... more laike an essay. well if you happen to remember some of the spanish your abuela spoke or/and you are interested in the topic I can send you the link you the youtube channel where I give voice to the text. The book itself is an ebook FYI.
Well again thanks for the poem, the words the answers.

[poetgurl]

Wow!! I enjoyed this write. This is really wonderful

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

You are too kind. Thank you so much for these encouraging words. I hope if anything comes from this poem it's that you continue your road forward as a writer and creative. Because to me that's what this world needs. More beautiful words and art. It's the only thing that can truly change the world. So please do me a favor and keep on writing as well as sharing your art. CLE

[Wordless_Prism]

I truly felt as though I was there walking with you, well done.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you for these kind words. It really means a lot to me to hear them. I remember my writing teacher in high school tell me "Don't just tell a story. Anyone can do that. Make the person your telling feel it and see it as if they were there with you. Just don't speak with words, but paint with words. I took what my teacher said to heart. And that advice I have lived in both my art and life. Continue to write and share your own words with the world. You can change it by adding more beauty into it. CLE

[Fran Marie]

you paint a lovely pictureque scene of Autumn
as we journey onward ..lovely poetic verse from
start to finished lines..well crafted ..& conveyed

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Fran. I am constantly inspired by the words of all the other poets here, including you. How can someone not see the world differently through artists eyes when reading all this amazing and moving poetry here in our community? We poets view the world not like everyone else, but through divinely inspired eyes. And we are richer in Love for it. CLE

[Weeping willow]

These words are so very beautiful and relatable Loved the flow. Within the lines are hidden meaning as we all travel a road of search of the hidden treasures within ourselves ;-}

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Weeping Willow for your sweet assessment on this piece. You are truly correct. That is what makes ,if so damn remarkable. We travel this road in search of that hidden treasure within us all, and that being us as individuals. We walk an Autumn Road of our own. And I hope that yours is just as tragically beautiful as well as inspiring. Thank you again for your kind words. CLE

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Carlos,

You have set to pen of page beautifully written philosophical words that do though provokingly touch upon all that Man is in his Humanity-prone quest which is none other than a desire to revisit and re-establish his innermost evaluation's sensation of having known and found true value in himself, and that long before other distractions of our planetary reality led him astray to eventually forget who he was and who he is, what he loves and desires, what lights the very fires of his heart and mind, as life and time can be ever so unkind as to numb the mind in amnesiac cruelty of having forgotten who we are and why as we look to the empty skies for answers that can only be found within ourselves as a truest revisit to that only Eden Man has ever known of actually known: The Heart-of-Man itself, before overthinking habits of conceit of our own significance defiled that garden of the Human Heart & Mind ...

Most inspiring lines here as I do hope that you can tell ...

Marve

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

You have captured the allure and relevant philosophy of the heart in this poem. It is an existential piece that reflects our place in the universe. A smallness in the portrait of a grandeur divinely image. Yet, despite what we may believe in our insignificance our purpose in the overall beauty gives it meaning because we understand and comprehend this momof brevity. We are but a shimmer in the greater symmetry of God. Thank you so much for sharing your insight and profoundly moving comment on this piece of poetry.

[red93]

Shades of the English Romantic Wordsworth with this one, in his poetic wanderings. A very painterly and evocative Piece. Excellent ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Art inspires art. Or a lesser form from the original. But no less beautiful or evocative in ways. We stand upon the shoulders of those greats that came before us. Whose works inspire us to our own artistic endeavors. I would consider myself a success if I could be even a 5th of a poet Wordsworth was. Of course being lucky enough to drive through the incredible mountainous and visually stunning landscapes of Monterey County does help inspire such notable words. Thank you so much my friend for this wonderful comment on this poem. It truly means a lot. CLE

[William Michael Reeves]

Not really alone with all that, are we? Hard to be lonely when we have poetry. You share, and we see. By your side is where the wind, nature and God will be ... not to mention, me.

billigami

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

You are truly correct in your assessment my friend. We really are never alone. Thank you kindly for your comment.

[Ken Simm.]

At first glance this is such an evocative visual poem. A simple joy for a painter. But on further reading I see the lights and story of faith and belief that is entwined within it. A multi layered rather beautiful creation.
And what we believe as God indeed.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me on this poem. I truly appreciate it Ken. This piece is multilayered as I have come to believe we all travel our own Autumn road. I sought to use visuals of nature as metaphors for those that made me who I am. My father's rough hand and ways reflected in the raging river. My mom's enabling attitudes reflected in the bended sorrow'd grass. The frolicking daisies my past loves. And the hopeful flight of birds my grandmother's eternal optimism. All moments lived on this road of life I've walked. God has always been synonymous with love. Never really a religious figure to me, but love in its purity and unconditional. We all walk this path and in the brevity of these simple moments disregard their illuminating beauty and sorrow only to realize later in life their profound impact. We are the culmination of these little things called love. CLE

[Ken Simm.]

Thanks for that more detailed explaination. Yes, I can see all those things in there. And you are more than welcome.