Candy-Colored Leaves
Candy-Colored Leaves
"You're changing," I whisper to myself.
"So am I," whispers the wind.
I think change is good.
Change is the way the air cools at night.
Change is the way I'm back at school again.
Change is the way I shiver in the morning.
Change is the way I grow up like the seasons,
Every year
A little different but still me,
Still here,
Still learning.
Change is how I feel about you
And how I'm starting to care more about myself
Than all the tiny things you've said to me.
It's the way my cherry tree is dropping lemon candy-colored leaves
In the green, green grass
And how the lake is safe again
But I'm too tired to unwind and take a night swim.
Change is how I'm 18
Yet still who I was last fall
When my cherry tree dropped lemon candy-colored leaves.
"The world is changing," I whisper to myself.
"So are you," whispers the wind.
But I don't want the world to change.
I want fall to stay crisp.
I want winter to stay cold.
I want the trees to keep dropping candy-colored leaves
And the lake to still be safe.
But I do want to change.
I want to find more time for myself,
More time to collect candy-colored leaves,
Sip tea in my cardigan as the wind whispers,
"You are changing and so am I."
The Voice
November 2024
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