Poem of the Week, by Andrea Gibson
My new poems + reflections podcast, Words by Winter, can be found here.

A friend in college loved the word bittersweet for the way it made him feel, full of a kind of happiness mixed with sorrow. As if he were missing something while it was still happening.
The last time I saw this friend, years ago at a reunion, he used the word again, telling me that even though I was sitting next to him, part of him was already in the future, missing me, and how bittersweet it was.
That’s how I think of fall. There is nothing more beautiful to me than leaves turned flame, than air turned crisp, but it’s an aching kind of beauty.
Autumn, by Andrea Gibson
is the hardest season.
The leaves are all falling
and they’re falling
like they’re falling
in love with the ground.
For more information about Andrea Gibson, please check out their website: https://andreagibson.org/
My website: alisonmcghee.com