alexander’s leaf by paris
{photoshop editing by moi}

i can feel autumn around me.
it gathers around me like my old deep red bathrobe.
i fold up its collar to keep the cool from my neck.

hello autumn.

living here in the alpine city, summer feels odd, as though the heat is misplaced.
the cool autumn days of canberra feel natural. old socks, bathrobe, the layers.

it isn’t winter yet:
winter is the dash from the bedroom to the shower,
the dash from the shower to crouch by the heater.
we follow heat around like missiles.

autumn.

hands cool against the keyboard. the dog’s coat grows longer.
my friend paris emailed me a picture of his son’s discovery of the first autumn leaf.
soon there will be great handfuls of them;
and then cascades of umber, orange, maroon, yellow,
enough to spin through and flick through and dance in.

i muse as the seasons change.
we grow older.
we fall in love deeper, with ourselves, with each other.
the soft rhythm of gaia is heard.

hello autumn, my fond friend.