You were in bed
in the shower
or drying your hair
when I walked on dewed grass

the smooth soled shoes
where slipping on the slope
and I nearly fell
but for a running descent

starlings spooked
from the giant birch
swayed pulsing in a trance
I knew not how it was
they did not collide
but knew it mattered not

it grew cold and Autumn
cast off my long coat
and spurned me with his
damp chill
until retreat took me
to the warm fire