Autumn leaves

You changed

Autumnal

so slowly

from an envious green

with life in your veins

to walking away

fleeting yellow

kicking leaves up

as though problems

could be lost

in the crisp gold

I didn't feel

the bitter cold

I didn't try to pull

my coat close

or twirl a scarf

around my neck

until the morning

my fingers turned blue

and the leaves

were sodden

with rain

and trodden

into cracks

in the pavement

reminding me,

under grey skies,

Autumn leaves.