Autumn

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

as if orchards were dying high in space.

Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."

And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.

We're all falling. This hand here is falling.

And look at the other one. It's in them all.

And yet there is Someone, whose hands

infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Autumn is a time of death and dying while also a time reaping. Two diametrically

opposed forces working at the same time. Rilke’s poem has always been a favorite of

mine as it explains this season so well. Fall, falling, falling…harvesting the cache of

fruits and vegetables at their finest in order to keep everyone and everything plentiful

through the harsh winter months. Warding off death and starvation. Keeping the winter

months at bay for as long as possible.