The tulip leaves are yellowing.
Beginning to fall onto the sidewalk.
An unexpected crunch under my feet.
A harbinger
of change.

A reminder, even in the verdant closeness of the July air,
that September
will
come.

That life, as close and as small and as circular as it is now
It too, will change.

When it all seems too much
the heat
the immediacy
the strain,

New things are on the horizon.
Like the crunch of leaves under your feet.
Death brings respite
but new challenges.

Each sunrise an invitation,
a shade different than the day before
a shade less than the day following.

If now is too overwhelming,
hold on for the cool breeze of tomorrow.