Candy-Colored Leaves

"You're changing," I whisper to myself.  

"So am I," whispers the wind.  

I think change is good.  

Change is the way the air cools at night.  

Change is the way I'm back at school again.  

Change is the way I shiver in the morning.  

Change is the way I grow up like the seasons,   

Every year 

A little different but still me, 

Still here,  

Still learning. 

Change is how I feel about you 

And how I'm starting to care more about myself 

Than all the tiny things you've said to me. 

It's the way my cherry tree is dropping lemon candy-colored leaves 

In the green, green grass 

And how the lake is safe again 

But I'm too tired to unwind and take a night swim. 

Change is how I'm 18 

Yet still who I was last fall 

When my cherry tree dropped lemon candy-colored leaves. 

"The world is changing," I whisper to myself. 

"So are you," whispers the wind. 

But I don't want the world to change. 

I want fall to stay crisp. 

I want winter to stay cold. 

I want the trees to keep dropping candy-colored leaves 

And the lake to still be safe.  

But I do want to change. 

I want to find more time for myself, 

More time to collect candy-colored leaves, 

Sip tea in my cardigan as the wind whispers,  

"You are changing and so am I."