Reid@YWP

fall isn't what you think it is.

fall isn't

pumpkin spice lattes and

smoky bonfires and

cinnamon candles and

your new maroon woolly cardigan that was on sale for

Thanksgiving or Halloween or whatever

I was anxious in theater class. I was talking at Wren, my theater friend of a couple months, blabbing tirelessly on about some kids' book I liked.

I gather hope in my pockets.

Shiny stones

smoothed by time.

I think of the bird

that flew free from her cage one day,

Leaves fallen, trod upon, 

whisper of discarded dreams 

as they crack 

under your weight. 

It’s your world 

The first time I heard her voice I saw a library.  An enclosed little nook with a creaking wooden table, the color of the wood changing from honey amber to deep mahogany under the flickering candlelight. 

Lying on plush couches,

Scrolling mindlessly on TikTok,

Then David Muir says something.

“The Supreme Court is destroying democracy.”