maple tree seeds fall
catching the cool fall air
and gliding
to somewhere else
helicopters
that's what we called them as kids
i loved laying beneath the tree
and watching it fall to pieces
leaf by leaf
and seed by seed
until it was bare
vulnerable
each branch exposed
it was silent
and cold
and then when the winter was through
i'd wait and watch
hoping to see the leaves to grow back
for weeks the trees would stay bare
until one day i'd wake up
to see nothing but green
as if everything had grown back at once
those days felt the most magical
the air so fresh and clean
cool spring air
always flowing
the threat of a spring storm always lurking
and with the storms blew in summer
like a wave of heat
with so much life
the sun breathing energy
into every living thing
the buzz of people
serotonin
summer used to be my favorite season
and it was in summer
that i fell in love with the night
there's a stillness in the summer nights
a certain quiet
that you can't match anywhere else
in the middle of the day
i've plugged my ears
and covered my eyes
looking to find a serenity
that you can only feel in the night
or - in the dead of winter
soft snow
muffles the buzz of life
covers our houses and cars
covers our ears and covers our eyes
and slows things down
there's a hollowness in the cold
that feels so familiar
like home
a little death
eerily still
and frozen
it is night time
in the dead of winter
when my soul seeps through
when my mind can rest
when the cold numbs
anything else
it is the stars in the sky
it is the bitter wind
the kind that blows tree leaves
and seeds
carries them gently to the ground
it is the whisper of god
if there is one
the guiding hand
of the universe
it is life
and it is beautiful
