AUTUMN LEAVES
by Johnny Mercer

The falling leaves
Drift by the window
The autumn leaves
Of red and gold

I see your lips
The summer kisses
The sunburned hands
I used to hold

Since you went away
The days grow long
And soon I'll hear
Old winter's song

But I miss you most of all
My darling
When autumn leaves
Start to fall

Autumn is my favorite season. I love the old songs; September Song and Autumn leaves always tug at my heart strings. To me autumn is a bittersweet time. It's warm sunny days, followed by crisp, moonlit nights and frosty mornings with the beauty of yellow, gold and brown foliage surrounding us.

But, in the midst of all the beauty comes the melancholy that invades our souls and leaves a small ache in our hearts as we realize that another summer has past into history and is gone forever. All that's left is the few snapshots we took of the kids playing in the sand box in the yard, the picnic in the woods and the day we took them to the beach. We have the snapshots, and the precious memories that they represent are tucked away in a special chamber of our hearts.

Now comes the long winter, with black, leafless trees, overcast skies and cold, dark nights that seem to fall upon us earlier every day. Our only solace rests in the realization that under the fallen leaves and frozen earth lie the seeds of life that will be awakened by the warm May sun and the cycle of life will start again.

Copyright 2008, John Swift