A brisk breeze slips along the path, fragrant with rain and possibility. Hills a’brush in amber and rust, trees tremble with light. The air hums with change. Leaves release themselves softly, freedom in their separation , surrendering to the gentle hush that follows.
I watch their slow escape, feeling a pulse of quiet epiphany. In their falling, I sense a strange calm, a blessing — the world neither dying nor grieving, but transforming, beautifully, into a breath of renewal.
A peace gathers at the bronzed edge of things, as trees relax their grip; saffron light seeps through thinning branches. Every leaf drifts downward with the grace of acceptance — a long kaleidoscopic sigh — a final dance before rest. I walk beneath them, feeling their cascade inside me, as though memory itself is evolving.
There is beauty in this soft unraveling — this gentle celebration of release, of evolution . Autumn teaches by transforming.
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not man less, but Nature more.”
Quietly sipping his steeped motivation, peeling away the fog of another fitful night, somberly grateful for the peace of morning, thoughts begin to un-blend. They gather into a palette of emotions, the colors of mood — moods he recognizes too well. The dark ebony of anger, the shades of pain’s purple. Here is the violet of regret, and the sorrowful blues. But here too, peaceful greens, golden joy, laughter’s bright amber, love’s deep ruby red, and the scarlet of passion!
As he muses, reflections on his mortality creep in, unwelcomed. His failing eyesight shoulders in coldly. He curses his fate, struggling beneath the weight of uncertainty — of heavy emotions.
Reaching to his iPad, midst dawn’s saffrons and corals, he begins typing deep indigo. “I fear the death of light, loss of colors, if it went grey. Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?”
Like drizzled honey
the sun through the treetops
paints the tall conifers
that embrace our meadow
in golden warmth
in that moment
my thoughts drift to you
and the tall ships in Beaufort Harbor
their massive sails aglow
painted in sunset shadows
their masts and riggings
set in fired relief
you had commented how the patterns
reminded you
of abstract charcoal sketches
the artist in you
always interpreting your world
this day
sunshine makes radiant your gentle face
your green eyes sparkle
I reflect back once more
to seeing you squinting in those rays
of that past North Carolina evening
your smile
had shone brighter than the sun
I remember staring
captivated
watching your eyes dance
among the docks and ships
in that beautiful little harbor
that unfolded like a still life before us
mesmerized
I had watched your lips
sculpting your words
in gentle excitement
you’d said yes
accepting the engagement ring
I offered you
there by the tall ships
I had wished that moment
would last forever
knowing that it would not
could not
it was a singular precious moment
anchored forever in time
here now
on this anniversary evening
my thoughts amble sweetly
back through time
I find a joyful peace
lying here with you
in the cuddled light
of this sunset-drenched meadow
my heart adrift
long ago
in the deep harbors
of my memories
Original DDE™ art: “Love’s Sustain” by: rob kistner © 10/30/25
Original DDE™ art: “Recalibration” by: rob kistner © 10/28/25
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