Where were you when fire consumed the leaves?
When campfire smoke saturated the air,
and the scent of cedarwood vanilla was tangled in my hair?
Upon the vastness of the lake and the brisk autumn breeze,
I stumbled down the rabbit hole,
lost in thought of where you'd gone.
Did you disappear within the falling leaves?
Or lose direction in the corn maze?
As pumpkins sat on doorsteps,
lit with tea-light candles.
As candy was passed to kids,
and their cheerful smiles.
Your scarf was wrapped around my neck,
embracing me in a comfort so strange.
Melancholy and happiness,
tucked away in my heart like the summer sandals forgotten in my closet.
The window was cold against my forehead as I gazed upon the damp street,
slick with rain and fallen leaves.
I thought of your gaze,
and the places we'd meet.
Of the brilliant shades of crimson,
and the sparks flittering into the sky,
burning so bright...
only to disappear within the depths of my severed heart.
Autumn shared the last smile with me as I pondered the memories.
You were the jacket buttoned around my body.
The whimsical breeze carrying the leaves into winter,
and the hinterlands beyond.
A crackling fire beneath the stars; the only source of light chasing away the fright.
Of loss.
Of heartbreak.
Of the rain tapping on the window before snow arrives.
You were everything an October could ask for.
Pumpkin pie, mugs of tea, and feelings of evermore.
How sad the seasons change.
And leave you asking,
When is October?
