A Love Letter To Fall

Juan Manuel Pérez

October 16, 2020

Fall, you are finally here. I missed you.

The spring and summer haven’t been so nice.

I mean with a virus, racial divide,

cops as judge, jury, executioner,    

protesting, the wrong, wayward president,

a supreme court missing one of their own,

a congress knee-deep in hypocrisy,

melting ice caps, hurricanes, wildfires,

isolation, sky-high unemployment, 

virtual schools, plus zoom meetings galore.

Fall, I’m so glad you are finally here.

We are going to try to fix this mess.

Early November will decide it all.

For you, Fall, carry swift, cool winds of change.

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of indigenous descent and the current Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas (2019-2020), is author of several books of poetry, including two new books: Space in Pieces (2020) and Screw the Wall! And Other Brown People Poems (2020).