Only In Autumn

Autumn colors peak only for a moment. Saffron leaves float through air tinged with regret to settle a cushioned carpet below. Green blades poke through, denying winter’s advance. Persimmons hang in clumps on bare limbs, heads bowed in unwilling surrender. Tiny yellow butterfly flits blossom to blossom, unhindered by the more glamorous of her kind who have come and gone with summer’s luscious fare, now wilting on the vine. A harbinger of death this one who comes on the wing unmindful of her sign yet singing sweetly summer’s swan song.