Fall Forward

According to NPR
there are thirty-three
Springfields. However
behind the barn is the
singular
Autumn field, stubbled now,
and magic. On the far side of
this field waits the future
Barely visible through underbrush
and evergreens. Stumble towards
it and decide (decide every day)
to be encouraged by the way
the leaves break your fall—
all the leaves who fell before you—
and notice how beautiful the still falling
leaves and the trees they left
and how the night sky shines through
the emptied branches