First Autumn

I walk through the drizzling leaves
and make a wish on each leaf 
as if it were a shooting star.

The wind sweeps through us 
and sends the leaves into a synchronized swim.
I stand shivering out the memory of that first Autumn 
back in 1990, 
when the rusty scent of leaves on the lawn was so new
when raking leaves was an adventure under the treehouse,
when David the Gnome 
and Gummy bears 
and Inspector Gadget 
made me laugh and cry and dream,
when I couldn't quite get warm even with a winter coat.

The leaves drop one by one 
with my yearning for a time 
when a single episode of David the Gnome 
could make it all better.
I dip my face into my warm scarf 
and continue now in 2015, 
I carry with me these leaves from my past.