A sad farewell

I watched alone by sunlit edge
 of pond and meadow touching hands,
 those flirting leaves that twitched and swirled,
 gold dessication incomplete.
 While water ruffling to shore
 beneath bowed willows’ trailing arms
 pushed tender shards of russet brown
 to curl contentedly in reeds.
 No harsh sounds to be heard that day
 - all living things were hushed and still,
 yet autumn whispered in the breeze
 and summer hummed a sad farewell.