autumnal
    vernal
autumnal
  vernal
would that i could
  sleep when the
     wind blows,
       diurnal
sleepless,
  infernal

autumn springs
winter passing
someone stole my mind
she ran across
   the earth
      and jumped
            off

stones rumbling from
        the cliff
would that i could go with her
       love
this autumn, the cold bites
      but i cannot find the way down
she says
     fly, fly
fly into the autumn sky

autumn wisteria
spring missing
smoke swirls below
   the cliff
does she live there
      or far alongside the horizon
under the falling star

leave me be
i whispered
and she wouldn't go
memories of places
             like holes of ice
slip but don't fall
most of the time
it seems the ice is on
    top of the water
but sometimes it seems
  i am looking down
at myself
  looking up at myself
looking down at her
   looking up at me

mr. misunderstanding
  she said to me
why are you so afraid to fly
  come down and visit me
in my valley of ice reflections
  growing in stronger and
thicker than veins
  thinner than backs
more solid than veils
  colder than any smile

autumn sun
spring in the snow
some day i will see
          you again
kiss you again
some day
i will have the courage
        again

seven million galaxies
in your eyes
most things change
and you least of all
dream girl
      do you wear night still
with the playful laughter of nightmares
    are your eye lashes black still
closing like my memory
  or is

my memory too
  part of you
everything you are
   snowfall, forts, queen
of heresies, last stands, truth,
   love, skies, rainfall,
ice itself
   would seem
a fitting ring for you
   as you wore
it in your ears and hair
   remembering
i forget most everything
   but you
remembering
   words that seemed
a dizzying dance
   entrancèd
light from the walls
   moving drunkenly from emptiness
           to nowhere
and as you whirl in my arms
   i worry that i may never meet you
you come apart as you turn
   and fall together as you step
i worry that i will never kiss you
   as i press your ice to my lips
memories of snow
   memories
memories, some day to you i will go
   some day
i will have your dreams again
or the peace of mind
   or courage to fly
again
   or you will have me in your dream
waterfall is all
   my love
and your warm embrace
   the cascading race
could i dream of you
   could i
could i
   all i ask
all

  all
all i ask
  you my
dream, all left
  down below,
the land cries the
  most beautiful cry
but her veins are
  not the same
let me remember,
  you, impossible
all i ask
  is autumnal.

 - "Autumnal," Connelly Barnes, 2007-01-03