Autumn’s here, the leaves they fall
As they do when summer drifts away
Slowly leaf by leaf, butterflies and bees 
All whisk away to other places where nippy winds 
Frost-nibbled grass and bare trees
Have had their day. They change places 
For a spell, the cities wear new faces 
Borrowed for a while
They smile, they sleep, they laugh, they dream
Hand in hand with the people passing by

Autumn’s here, the leaves should fall
As they do when summer slips away
But the seasons can’t find their way
Into this city, its leaves, butterflies and bees 
Have ceased to be. Permanently. Their carcasses one
With those of their humans that once 
Lived in this place.  They can’t change places 
Even for a while
They cannot sit and weep and weep and weep
Where mothers are slain and children are left to die.