Contributor: M. Protacio-De Guzman

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October
And light falls
On leaves that revel
In their verdancy.

I like to think
Them brown,
Dry, and brittle,
Spiraling their way
From their perch
To the ground.

The wind blows
On my sweat-soaked
Back, shocked
By its coldness.

I like to feel it
Hinting of snow:
Biting and cold,
Creating shivers
That rise and fall
Within my spine.

But there
Is no autumn
In my country.

There is only
My imagination
Coaxing the senses

Into believing that
There actually is.
Still--

I like
To think
It real.


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M. Protacio-De Guzman is a poet from Manila, Philippines. His poems have appeared and have been anthologized in local and international publications, most recently in the Off the Rocks Anthology Volume 19.