Down, Fall

like heavy snow 'pon cedar boughs those shadows, long through winter my conscience weighs the thens and nows yet morrows - naught a splinter ... where hangs the hope in autumn? as masts tick off the sea's green swells like clocks tick straight the hours my thoughts refuse to count the bells once tolled for Neptune's powers ... where falls the hope in autumn? young lovers hide deep in their dreams should melting flesh close-bind them and I masked mine in callow schemes so no sweet lass would find them ... where rests the hope in autumn? so deep and dark, life's oldest quest from whence, no soul's returning and next is what we've deemed as best love's flames - those bridges burning ... where hides the hope in autumn? where hides your hope, dear Autumn? Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, October 31, 2022