Autumn’s Mother Heart
And there Autumn met me
with the loveliest of winds;
but a heart blown asunder
as her leaves would fall again.
She mourned like a mother
who may lose her only child.
So I looked past grand color,
to see grief in her raw wild.
The moon rose like a wizened soul,
as I swam into Autumn’s stream,
a whirlwind of warm memories
and soon-stolen wishes and dreams.
I spoke kind words that did little
to ease her deep growing beast.
She even trembled with vestiges
of leaf prints near her knees.
And so, I did the only thing
a human could truly do.
I bowed with grace before her,
and kept vigil through and through.
With bravery, Autumn finally let go . . .
as our tears shook and echoed
into winter’s bleary woe.
Time moved on as it has the want and will,
past winter, spring, and summer still;
and again, I greeted Autumn.
She smiled when she saw me,
and bowed to me with grace;
the human that saw fit to stay
in grief’s lonely darkened space.
I walked closer to divine Autumn,
the wisest mother of them all,
to notice lines and creases softer,
at peace with her destined fall.
Once more, sweet leaves moved from her
and, yes, she blustered and cried.
But, in the end, she whispered to me,
Love branches immortal, never to die.
Angie Weiland Crosby
Autumn knows a mother’s heart. It gives and then lets go.
This quote came to me on a walk a year ago. It wouldn’t leave. And the words felt both haunting and beautiful all at once.
The other day, I sat amidst the beginnings of autumn with a pen and paper. This poem emerged and seemed to exist as a longer version of my quote.
Once done, I realized who inspired it, my dear friend, Patti. She is a gift to all she meets. Throughout her adulthood, she has comforted bereaved families with the most generous loving spirit. You see, her daughter, Amber, died of cancer in 1980 at the age of four. Still, Amber has remained ever-present with her mother as an angel.
While I only met Patti a few years ago, I feel as if I’ve known her a lifetime. Her wisdom about living and dying has affected me on a deep level. And I can surely feel her daughter’s presence through her. And so, my poem is an ode to autumn, Patti, and Amber.
It is also a message to all of us, as together we’re on a journey in this lifetime of loving and grieving. May you always have someone true and beautiful nearby, as you rise and fall.
Warmth to you this autumn season.
Embrace the Angel Website
Recently, Patti has become an “End-of-Life Doula.”
“Doulas provide emotional, spiritual, and physical support at an intensely personal and crucial time. They assist people in finding meaning, creating a legacy project, and planning for how the last days will unfold. Doulas also guide and support loved ones through the last days of life and ease the suffering of grief in its early stages.”
Learn more about Patti and Amber on her website: Embrace the Angel. My daughter, Summer, drew her website’s logo!
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Your moments here matter to me. Warm wishes and gratitude…always.
Incredibly beautiful. A masterpiece of a poem. Keep going.
Carolyn, thank you so much for your lovely words and encouragement! Warm wishes to you! ❤️
Angel Pop and I got goosebumps while reading this beautiful poem! Just love it!
I love you both! I’m happy to know the emotion I felt while writing these words reached beyond me and into the reader’s experience. ❤️
Sitting here on Sunday, sipping coffee, feeling beyond blessed to have met you and Summer in the Eastport Post Office. The Divine directs my steps–and yours, too–bringing us together to discover the Mysteries of the Universe…to rest in the knowing…to share them with the world.
Angie, you are an Angel. The words that pour forth from your soul to ours are pure, deep, abiding Love in action.
Amber is smiling in all of us!
Thank you, Patti! Your words that just now poured forth from your soul I will always treasure. And, yes, our meeting was divinely orchestrated. Summer and I are truly blessed to have you in our lives. And Amber is surely smiling down on all of us! ❤️