Autumn Evenings

Kelly Esparza

Nature and I decide to grow during the pandemic/ water droplets make a home out of every shard of grass/ daisies emerge from the earth (six feet apart), making wishes to a genie, a dandelion standing in the center/ the sun plays a game of hide-and-seek/ now you see me; now you don’t/ children giggle and squeal from afar/ a baby cries/ a toad croaks hello next door/ birds call for a chat/ time for tea, I expect them to say/ a cool chill after autumn’s first rain wraps around my shoulders like a shawl/ Nature and I keep going, keep moving, keep living/ my hair births my natural curls/ I taste the crisp, dryness of the autumn air/ I’m sitting alone, but I’m not actually alone/ Mama sits inside the house/ a dog barks and whimpers in the neighborhood/ I hear a buzzsaw buzzing nearby/ the clouds turn as pink as cotton candy/ a soft, soothing symphony of words take place in my mind/ I’m listening, I’m breathing, I’m seeing/ nothing, sweet old nothing.

Kelly Esparza is a California-based author and poet. She is a recent college graduate from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Creative Writing. She is the author of The World as Seen Through My Eyes (Kindle Direct Publishing, 2019) and the co-author of Out of This World! (Make Way for Books, 2020). Kelly strives to uplift others with her writing. @Kelly_Esparza7