At Autumn's End

 

Jerri's Hope: Finding Hope in Season's End

At Autumn’s End

The last of the leaves cling to the trees,
brown with hints of yellows and reds.
Winter’s bite is in the breeze
tiny animals make their frozen beds.

I walk with my face pressing
into the cold of the dawning day
and wonder if the spoken and unspoken fears
have come into our hearts to stay.

Frozen hours lie before us
it is not yet December, and there is snow.
I share the concern for times ahead,
for the future is not ours to know.

All mothers wish for days of joy
along the paths of their children’s lives.
Sometimes there are valleys with shadows looming,
and we pray on those days....mothers, wives.

We learn the most in uncertainty,
We comfort ourselves with false control
Faith is the price of abiding peace
when the nights are long and the gray clouds roll.

By Jerri A. Harrington