all that glitters

Autumn as a child—
Leafy, Luscious, and Golden—
drifted by Indifferently
with Sweet, Spiraling scents,
silently transforming my world
of bright, carefree colours
into Regal tones of Aureate hue,
Mysterious, Majestic;
An astonishing realm of Beauty
beyond the grasp of my juvenile mind.

I was the intruder
in a Secret kingdom of Fantasy,
crunching dry leaves like bones
and sheepishly spying
on a Passionate performance
of Extravagant grace.

While boastful birds of song
subdued their lusty refrains,
while wild geese driven by wind
soared hastily far and away,
while tiny creatures of secrecy
shied back to dark places unseen,
I soaked in the Luxurious sun,
breathed in the Exhilarating fall air,
and claimed all of its Natural glory
for myself.

But it sensed my self-interest
in taking a Selfless gift,
and, like the boastful birds,
the wild geese and the tiny creatures,
it shied away to a place indefinite.
I was abandoned,
left alone, and
cold.

The glow that so Generously warmed
and shone Unashamedly bright
faded,
becoming evermore rusty,
dull and dirty.
No longer caressed by a Gentle breeze,
I found myself assaulted
by a cruel, callous wind.

It exposed the inborn naivety
which had eternally governed
the Romanticized world I dwelt in.
Leafy, Luscious and Golden,
It drifted by Indifferently…

And with Sweet, Spiraling scents,
it left me alone, and
cold.