October 28, 2022 - Rahil Najafabadi’s “Seasonal Change”

SEASONAL CHANGE

There’s a moment between winter and fall,
the seconds when time stands still and branches
become bare. In those minutes of drinking cider,
slipping on icy pavement, and falling for him,
I realize the seasons have changed from cool
to the coldest I can be in the street––smiling
without my teeth drilling into each other.

I wish I could tape the sunlight to the horizon.
The scent of apple picking makes me drunk,
but awaken me when it’s time to cut the tree
and I’ll awaken you when there’s nothing left
of the forests, the entire earth, because we took
it all. Perhaps my favorite pastime is being,
and watching the colors get warmer until all
becomes black, in the face of white snow.