Featured image: The Dragonfly, by Yatin Thomas Marneni
this is, we are, autumn leaves
Destined to die
Yet gliding adrift
From home
From here
To nothing.
Free falling from warm-toned crowns
Come other leaves, here to dance with us
Doing the waltz of the wilted
Weaving through twisted branches
All knowing of their end
They brush against wicked wood
Wishing to cut their performance
Vicious limbs rake them from the air
Stealing the show and their last moments,
Snagged. Snatched. Soulless.
Their curtain call as we fall, mortified.
And then us,
Ripped apart as the winds decide
To collide when the gust dies
Losing ourselves to the world
With each pull and push of the breeze
Until we are the same brittle and broken
That rests on exposed roots
And yet, we still twirl around each other
As we spiral towards the ground.
this is, we are, autumn leaves
And as we grace into the goodnight the world asked of us,
Let’s remember the time we spent atop the canopy
Mocking those who fell from this grace
Let us relish in the irony
Of our arrogance.
Our last dance is spent in a beautiful tragedy
Enveloped in the moment
Enamored.
Destined to die.
Daequan Muirhead is a sophomore English minor at Marquette University. Though he spends much of his time writing, this is his first published work. In their free time, Daequan enjoys cooking, strumming their guitar, and of course, writing poetry.
Yatin Thomas Marneni is a student studying in the Accounting Program at the College of Business Administration at Marquette University. He spends his time studying for class, visiting his family in Illinois, and working on various drawings and paintings.