Fall

The other night the wind and the rain

slapped a lot of beauty out of their canopies.

The rain fell on the leaves,

the leaves fell like rain.

The colors lay dead.

I tried to rally my kids to pick them up.

I gave them Elmer’s glue and a stapler.

I had a few ladders too.

The suns out now and how much

I wanted to see the colors against

a cool blue sky instead of faded green

and asphalt and gravel.

I almost prayed for the resurrection

of these expired tree totalers.

But then my kids dropped the glue

and staples and the disbelief

their faces were showing me.

They ran for rakes.

Their faces flush with autumn air

they piled up the colors on the runway.

They carelessly overlaid color on color,

like when they were much younger with crayons.

Their excitement rose as did the pile.

Then I saw the clear blue sky in their eyes

as they lay laughing in the colors.

I smiled as their redemptive act

fell on me like cool rain in the night.