A Proctor Fall

i arrived on a bright summer day,

of early september

sun rays pouring on the skirts of the trees, 

outside my street window

illuminating each branch, crawling with green tints 

i wondered when her colors would shift

impatiently sitting at the pane

watching the numbers accumulate on my wrist watch 

waiting each day, for the moment when she would begin the prep of hibernation

like the bears that sat high on the hill, gathering berries and sipping the never ending sap that poured into big blue buckets,

soon enough,

i woke up to golden pastels surfacing on the leaves tips 

color winding  through their stems

an electric signal running with the power lines of life,

arms outspread like the hug of a lover

this was-

the beginning of a beautiful death 

preparation for a quiet winter

the moment autumn had arrived. 

campus was draped in her disassembled dress

music and friday night lights danced under the halloween clouds

gray and brackish

the edges of the pavement piled high with her layers

autumn wrapped us between her arms

she was all we could see for miles

we were together again

sharpening our focus

through narrow, black binoculars

entranced each year, 

by the stunning colors of her being

another perfect Proctor fall.

-- Maya Gergen ‘23 October 2022