Poems for Autumn...
On impermanence and peace...
Dear Reader,
It’s been a while since I’ve written here, and I’m sorry for the silence. Life got busy, and my attention drifted elsewhere, but I’ve missed this space, and missed sharing my words with you.
The two poems below are inspired by small, everyday moments. “Leaf Piles” captures a simple childhood memory: the feel of fall beneath your feet, and the way a pile of leaves can become its own little world. “Why Construction Workers Make Great Contemplatives” reflects on noise, work, and the quiet focus I observed in people going about their jobs with care and attentiveness.
It’s in everyday life and in overlooked moments that meaning is made. Hopefully, these small poems will encourage you to stop, reflect, and observe with wonder the world just beneath your feet.
Enjoy!
-Ryan
LEAF PILES Red fields of fallen leaves stretch before me like a bed of hot coals, the snap and crunch of leaves underfoot like the crackle and pop of embers as they leap between coals— like the way kids play jumping this way and that, till they fall beneath the leaves and the world fades to black. 𑁍𑁍𑁍 WHY CONSTRUCTION WORKERS MAKE GREAT CONTEMPLATIVES Sitting in my office, I struggle to get quiet. The rattle and rumble of engines like raging earth turning underfoot. I should be mad. Should yell downstairs and beg for a moments peace, but focused on their work, they pay me no mind. Hands steady, eyes straight, they go about the work of upturning dirt—somewhere in the asphalt these men have found peace.