A Little Longer, Gold

[Verse]

The river wears the beeches’ red,

And carries what the branches shed.

A thousand sparks in slanting light

Drift with the current out of sight.

Through thinning boughs, the hills appear;

The distant world draws strangely near.

Beyond the ridge, wild geese sweep wide;

In wavering lines they wheel and glide.

[Pre-Chorus]

I breathe it in, this tender spell,

And feel the beauty in farewell.

[Chorus]

Glow a little longer, gold;

So much of you I long to hold.

I know the wind will have its way;

No blush, no flame was made to stay.

But leave some brightness in the air,

An amber hush still hanging there.

And when the woods are gold no more,

Give back the sky they veiled before.

[short instrumental break]

[Verse]

Bruised apples darken in the rain;

Their sweetness fades; the seeds remain.

By dawn, each blade of orchard grass

Has grown a fragile skin of glass.

My footsteps scarcely make a sound;

A russet quilt conceals the ground.

What crowned the trees lies soft and low

And shelters what has yet to grow.

[Bridge]

All that must fade, we hold more dear,

And cherish while it lingers here.

Though autumn's colours find release,

Their passing holds a quiet peace.

[Final Chorus]

Settle softly, fallen gold;

Sink where the roots outlast the cold.

The branches could not make you stay;

But earth receives what falls away.

Down where the patient roots run deep,

Unwritten summers lie asleep.

And when the woods are gold no more,

The sky grows wider than before.

mmmhmmmmhmmm

mmhmmmm

[Outro]

The leafless boughs stand stark and still;

Dusk gathers gently on the hill.

I watch the light drain from the west

and let the waning season rest.

[End]