fallen leaves

your hair brown, eyes are blue,
shorter height, 20-something young woman.
nothing striking, you're easy to look past, over, around.
you go unnoticed in crowds, maybe that's why it's so easy to slip through them.
you go unnoticed in rooms, familiar faces don't seem to see you.
you fade into the background,
like the falling leaves as they slowly turn to brown and drift to the ground.
they'll soon be underfoot, as insignificant as the bugs that crawl underneath them.
the cold begins to take over, frosting the grass crunchy in the mornings, breath condensates in mid-air like a smoke cloud.
meanwhile, those forgotten leaves once green and living, once full of vibrant colors, decay into the earth.

this is the season of fall, that everyone supposedly loves for its crisp mornings and cooler weather. the season that you despise because of the slow decline of life, the air that holds no potential. the days are shorter and the sun is gone for longer, vegetation dies off, trees lose their leaves, animals go into hibernation. and the world around you seems a little more empty.

rip current

the ocean waves you're drifting in take a turn
gradually, over time
they become bigger, stronger, frothy, full of movement
the sky becomes darker as the sun fades
you turn to look for shore and find it's far in the distance
 the waves begin to take you out farther and farther away
the rip current pulls you under
struggle back to the surface
which way is solid ground?
you remember what they always say about swimming parallel to shore to save yourself
don't fight the current, swim to the side till you're out of it
by the time you get out of the current, the land you meet isn't even recognizable
the faces on the beach, unfamiliar
almost like a different time