Stillness
lands all around me
in the early evening of
summer,
the caw, caw, caw of a crow
wakes me from
my mobile nap,
I feel the shortness of my breaths
I hear the screaming of my thighs
as I trudge
up, up, up
the steeped pavement before me,
the sun, lower in the sky
than a month ago at this time of day
but still so hot
sizzling the drips of perspiration
on my forehead and my cheeks,
while the sticky air
grabs hold of my bare arms
weighing them down,
the trudging more encompassing
than I thought
when I woke from
my mobile nap
umpff…
…and then
a vee-formation of geese
flap through the currents of highway above
as a tiny golden leaf
floats to the ground
before my eyes,
and I smile
as the dream of autumn
settles into my soul…