Fall, that most brilliant of seasons,
With an aroma all its own,
Has for various reasons
On my affections grown.
It’s partly all the color;
Red? No, reddish brown?
Orange? It’s one or the other,
That leaf that just fell down.
And it’s partly the falling leaf;
A twirl, a spin, a sliding drop;
A sky dive, Oh, so brief
With the slightest clatter of a stop.
And it’s also that “fally” odor;
Corn in shock, ear on stem,
Leaves when they’re walked over,
As you crunch your way through them.
A major part, I must admit
Is school; a bell, a book;
A different room in which to sit,
To listen, learn, and look.
And – I might as well be honest,
I like pumpkin pie, a little squash;
All the nuts the trees rain on us.
And Delicious, Jonathan, and McIntosh.
Fall’s nice warm days and cool nights,
That hazy, smoky distant view,
The full autumn moon that on us lights,
Those are truly reasons, too.
Oh, I know that fall must terminate
To winter; it is only just.
But I’ll enjoy autumn before it’s too late,
For enjoying fall is a must.
– eab, 10/75
Written while pastoring Christ Church-Bible Methodist, Friendsville, TN.
