The Autumn Sunlight

In long draping lines,
It hangs like silk.
Drifting through the leaves
Lighting them up,
Casting a glow below.

It touches lightly the
Soft belly of my
Aching

Which is heavy,
Leaden

And my Longing

Which is empty,
A deep, pulling emptiness

And they dissipate

Slowly,

slowly

They are thinning -- ebbing
And spreading out into
The everything around me.
Leaving snail’s treads
In every direction.

In case I will call them back?

I am opening my hands.

I am letting them go.

And I am leaning back,
Further and further back
Into its warmth,
Finding it solid,
And promised,
And beautiful.

And for now, this moment,
Mine.