Autumn Ashes by Joshua T. Baylis

In the autumn the fires burn
For the life in the leaves drains away
Till they each, one by one, slowly turn
To the colour of flame and are shed
Once extinguished, like ash, to decay
Where they lay down and cover in red
The cold ground to which now they return.

Every tree sets on fire with a sigh.
Once enrobed in a garment of green,
Now a slow-motion pyre blazing high.
In the autumn they burn and grow bare,
Leaving skeletons, empty and lean,
Burned-out branches, in sharply cold air,
Which has bled all the blue from the sky.

In the autumn the fires burn
As they flicker on hearths in red shades,
For we mourn the lost warmth and we yearn
To inhabit again and keep hold
Of the glow that once was but now fades.
But, we find, we must weather this cold
And, each year, this same pattern relearn.

All the world now feels empty and old.
Yet there glows like red embers one thing:
‘Tis the ancient great story retold
– And in autumn like fire does it burn! –
That new life from these ashes will spring.

Josh is based in Oxfordshire, UK, with his wife and baby, has been a guitarist for about fifteen years and took a leap into writing poetry about three years ago. He gravitates toward themes of the symbolism of the seasons, the grandeur of nature, and the certainty of resurrection life to come through chaos and confusion. As a physicist by background he enjoys combining creativity with a methodical approach to writing. He also loves complex and imaginatively rich stories and wishes his bookshelves were limitlessly big. Josh works in research support and has previously worked as a church-based ministry trainee.