Fall

Hi Adele,

Cooler weather means fall is coming.  Working with words, I like the way "fall" has different meanings, all related: autumn and falling, changing leaves; falling down; falling in love; falling asleep; the rise and fall of a government; falling from grace.  (just the same way,  "spring" is a season; water gushing up; the movement of leaping and springing; and a metal spring on a couch or bed).  I talked about this with my monthly writing group at Among Friends, a group which began in 2006 and ran for over 8 years as a Living Through the Arts project,though I now work there independently.  I passed around slips of paper and asked each of the 10 people in today's session to write down two words or phrases about these different meanings of fall.  We put all the papers in a basket, and each person picked one (not their own!) and wrote a poem or short prose piece based on the two words they received.  One woman wrote about "falling down the stairs of love, going deeper and deeper into the relationship."  Someone else wrote about walking through crisp leaves to enjoy fresh-baked pumpkin pie at grandmother's house. Then there were crisp red apples tumbling from the trees.  And someone talked about the way we change into fall clothes just as the leaves turn colour, and how we harvest our own energy just as we harvest ripe fruits and root vegetables.  All the participants liked the way these "surprise gift" words helped them create something new.

Here is my poem: my two words were "love" and "angel"  (fallen angel).

Floating on her cloud
full of love and light,
the angel saw and heard nothing --
it was all too bright.

She poked a hole in the cloud,
looked down,
                  down,
                        down.

She saw rain, and gardens,
dogs, children crying,
children laughing.

She heard music -- not just
harps, but saxophones, clarinets,
trumpets, piano -- jazz, rock & roll.

She smelled the salt of the sea,
and apples baking.
She fell in love
                     with the world.

She peered down, closer
and closer,
               to the hole in her cloud
A gust of wind blew by
and suddenly
                         the angel was
                            tumbling
                                head over heels

She fell.

The world caught her.


Lots of love,
Ellen