Autumn Waltz

By Larina Warnock

Two leaves take the longest path
southbound toward last year’s refugees.

They twist in breathy patterns,
tendrils stretched and splayed
like lovers lost in tomorrow’s memories
with few and with fewer regrets.

Her pale sienna backdrop
reveals her unkempt secrets.
She sways in a solitary waltz
to and fro on invisible wings.

His veins bulge orange.
He aches to tangle them
in the burnished strands of her.
The breeze sends him sidelong.

They drift around each other
feather-falling to the earth,
reaching toward and away from each other,
a pilgrimage to a temple of the fallen.

They claim their right to become one
with each other, with the world.

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A one-time teen mother and high school dropout, Dr. Larina Warnock serves the education system in Southern Oregon. She lives with her husband, three dogs, and a turtle older than she is. Her work has appeared in Oregon Humanities, Rattle, The McNeese Review, Abyss & Apex, and others. Her chapbook, American Rural: Monologues, was published in October 2024, and her TEDx talk is available on the TEDx YouTube channel.