Falling

The sky above is brooding with despair
Promising nothing quite so much as rain.
An autumn chill breaks through the summer air;
A tumbleweed of leaves drifts down the lane
Until it smacks against a car, and breaks,
Shedding itself into the gutter. Light
Diffuses out of nowhere, and so makes
No shadows. It is neither day nor night.
A strange uncertain silence has descended:
No squirrels, no birds, no people break the peace.
Only the acorns on the roof have rended
The empty quiet: and they too soon cease.
Time is suspended. Clocks don't tick. Yet I
Must wander on beneath the saddened sky.