the autum game

you remember the feel
of the leather ball
spiraling off your hand
down field, effortlessly
across the grass
below the blue sky,
the air cool and fresh,
an autum ritual with
childhood friends still
at it in mid life.
you can still feel
the burn in your lungs,
the hard muscles
of your legs churing
churning towards
a goal line, in another
game. you remember
this and smile, you
remember the days
that would never
end, and don't.