A mosaic of red and green,
The ground covered with leaves.
A hidden beauty to be seen
Which from trees, ground receives.
Preparing for the Winter’s cold,
The green starts to retreat.
The same green leaves which made trees bold,
To withstand Summer’s heat.
Before the leaves will start to fall,
They turn to shades of red.
Until amongst the bell bird’s call,
They fall to forest bed.
But leaves aren’t Autumn’s quality,
It has a character.
It’s something that you cannot see,
To which we all refer.
The strong North wind that’s always warm,
The cool of evening breeze.
The thought of chaos and conform,
This season shows with ease.
What of emotion Autumn brings?
From summer it’s relief.
A time to rest and think of things,
To watch an Autumn leaf.
For as it falls, it’s like the year,
The seasons come and go.
Each leaf is like a single tear,
Which joins to make a flow.
Autumn is not a time to cry
A time to stand and sing,
Not looking to the winter, try
To look towards the Spring.

By Lloyd McLean (1993)

This poem is part of the Seasons of Emotion collection