Today's Beautiful Gem: `Autumn' by M. Udayakala

"The flaming red leaf, reminiscing of the days
when it was a fragrant flower of many-hued petals
radiating aroma and inviting the honeybees, falls.

"The bird travelling south remembers the season of its youth,
and its loving parents who fed it, sustained it and protected it,
and, yes, the first flight it took soaring toward the distant sun.

"The hill thinks of the time when its mantle was green,
and the light-filled summer hours were warm, long, and lazy,
and the nights were short, but sweet, scented and enchanting.

"A season of apprehension and foreboding certainly is autumn;
it's also one of fulfillment, contentment and restrospection;
a time for harvest; a time of longing for what could have been.

"I'm in the autumn of my life and memories of warm sun,
handsome flowers, beautiful friends and melodious songs,
frequent me, fill me, engulf me, and, alas, overwhelm me.

"Stealthily, the winter is approaching, stop its march none can;
and much later the spring will arrive with its dance of blossoms--
A rejuvenated life? A new life? May be another life! Who knows?"

Om Santih! Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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