I

AUTUMN GAMES

Leaves fall, and lie forgotten on the ground,

Until a footstep rustles them again:

A letter brought my thought once more around,

Crisp deckled pages, fine-veined from your pen.

Most loves choose other seasons. Many hold

Forever fogblind spring, or summer’s sweat,

Or silent winter’s deep respectful cold;

Most chase them all, and have not caught them yet.

But we keep to our thoughts, and letters sent:

We play our autumn games, and are content.

I entertained an autumn thought of you,

An unexpected warmth with summer gone;

It colored deep, as leaves in autumn do,

And I allowed the wind to blow it on