Fall

The summer exhales.
Its breath, long held, has allowed leaves to pile up
In drifts under trees and along bridges,
In yellow and pale green and purple,
Crushed underfoot, dried by a stubborn sun,
But let out sweeps them along, away.
They curl against the ground as they go
Making a noise like paper or candy wrappers
Or just the noise of leaves on asphalt, inimitable.
The wind grows like a long sigh one didn’t mean to express,
Too loud, too strong.
It whips the leaves into a frenzy,
Scatters them, whips around my hair and my face and my flapping coat.
I shut my eyes against that stubborn sun,
Breathe deeply of this new autumn,
And wish I could just fall.