Autumn Hue

At the hilltop, I breathed 
in rich fall evergreens, 
felt short curls tickle my face
and my arms stretch
to encompass the peace
of this place.
"And in that moment, 
I swear we were infinite,"
gliding over the clouds,
melting into azure skies
with wind billowing beneath
us, buoying our souls
as we rose above cascades 
of sun-dipped maples and the polished honey of hickory trees.

This poem is in response to this week’s Wea’ve Written Weekly at the Skeptic’s Kaddish. Deepthy provided the prompt this week:

  • Write a poem inspired by the following quote:

And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

Stephen Chbosky (b. 1970), The Perks of Being a Wallflower

  • You may choose to include the quote itself in the poem or not;
  • Feel free to choose a form that best suits your poem

When I read this prompt, my mind immediately went back to a hill I climbed with my husband back in October of 2021. We were near Duluth, Minnesota, celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary and the end of my cancer treatment in a special little autumn trip sans children. There is something oddly peaceful yet oddly powerful about being at the top of a mountain in autumn.

16 thoughts on “Autumn Hue

  1. I love the feel of this, and the ambiguity behind the “we” (without knowing the backstory). It’s very hopeful.

    “as we rose above cascades
    of sun-dipped maples and the polished honey of hickory trees.”❤️

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