Contributor: Richard Schnap

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The night is falling sooner
As the painted leaves descend
Like pirouetting dancers
In the finale of a ballet

While the serenading swallows
Lift their wings up to the sky
Leaving behind a silence
Broken only by the wind

But as the days diminish
There’s a final spark of light
Like a coda to a symphony
With one last part to play

When I hear the children singing
In the autumn of their youth
And hope that in the years to come
They’ll still remember how


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Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.