Memories Captured in Autumn Leaves

I often feel that the garden knows very well what’s going on in our house, and all around us. It’s as though the leaves and the trees have a wisdom we cannot comprehend. In autumn I get this feeling particularly strongly, and so I wrote about it… and here it is:

Garden Memories

These colours of autumn
Have trapped memories 
In spring there is green
It bows to the house
Saluting light and shade
Warmth and cold
Past and present

Once the grasses recalled feelings of loss
Leaves bent in the wind
A soul that fell in a great war
The passing sadness
Drifted cruelly… and then casually 
A leaf that shone in the sun 
Heard laughter and longing

Once the gardener stooped
And wept
Later she smiled
The smile meandered…
A dozing spider 
Captured its reflection
In diamond dew drops
Suspended in a perfect web

Long ago, in spring,
A primrose felt the colour of a wild wedding
A daffodil opened to the music of a violin 
A crocus heard a baby cry
And then laugh
The garden saw them all
Young and old alike

Today the colours of autumn
Resonate with familiar voices
But later… they will be silent
There will be cold and sadness
Challenged by warmth and kindness

These colours of autumn trap our memories
Living and dying… departing and returning