That Sweeter Breeze

The leaves in droves went flying by my door;

How soon that sweeter breeze returns to us!

The ticks of hours passing by in score

Did mark and test my ever waning trust.

But then that sickly summer veil uphealed!

And fouler airs to crisp cool scents did part.

My friend, your gentle gusts my heart did steal

Before this lovely eve did even start.


 
I waited fondly, candles lit for you,

But fonder still, my faith in you was true.


 
    This poem isn't really meant to mean a lot: it's simple with an easily understood surface meaning and an easily graspable metaphorical meaning. More importantly, it's a light-hearted English sonnet meant to celebrate my love of the natural world in the same style that the Romantic poets used around 200 hundred years ago. It also serves as an excellent introduction for this blog due to that very same light-hearted, open nature.

    Autumn is possibly the greatest of the four seasons that we have the privilege of experiencing in this specific spot of the world at 38°15'N and 85°46'W (fun fact: those are the specific global coordinates for Louisville, KY!) It always brings some measure of relief with it. Summers are always so incredibly hot, especially when you are laboring under that bright and scorching sun all day long, but the cool breezes that ensue just seem that much sweeter by comparison. I welcome the first chilly whispering wind of fall, because it says to me ever so quietly: "Rest now, dear friend. You will toil no more for now, let your labors begin anew in summer."

    It (along with all of the other seasons) is also incredibly consistent when you stop to think about. For at least 6,000 years it has continuously returned to us with each long 365.25 days revolved around the sun. I've only been alive for 19 years of that long historical chain and even THAT seems like a long time! It truly is remarkable how everything is held together so consistently, whether it be the blossoming of flowers in the spring; the rising of the sun in the morning and its returning to the horizon the very next day; or, yes, even the returning of autumn in the latter half of every year.

    This consistency truly is amazing, yes, but that is only so because it is not guaranteed. We assume the blossoming of the flowers, the rising of the sun, and even the returning of autumn every single year that we experience and yet, not to do so seems almost absurd, after all, it has always been this way. But the truth of the matter is that we have faith that these events shall always repeat themselves year after year. Faith and belief are what we base everything on, including such seemingly mundane things as discussed above. This sonnet is essentially a praise saying: "Thank you, dear friend, for fulfilling my faith in you, and returning once again, even as I began to doubt."