Heh Leaf!
Inspired by Johnny Mercer’s lyrics/song ‘Autumn Leaves’ © 1947
Heh Leaf! Fall out with me
in one fell swoop—
let this be your downfall.
Fall in line
Fall apart, f(or) all I care.
Fall into, fall off of, fall on hard lines (in your case, veins)
Fall out of something (with someone/something)
Fall prey, fall flat.
It’s as easy as falling
between the (wise)cracks.
Fall over laughing on your midrib—
divided (we fall).
And that leaves us, Leaf,
as the ‘fallen ones’—
September through November.
Johnny Mercer got the right balance in his lyrics for ‘Autumn Leaves’ from the French tune, ‘Les Feuilles Mortes’ (‘Dead Leaves’ as a title doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?). Mercer’s song list includes 1500 tunes. This one’s been recorded 1000 times by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Joan Baez, Coldcut, Iggy Pop, Cannonball Adderley and Sarah Vaughn. In four simple verses, Mercer uses the word ‘fall’ or ‘autumn’ two times each.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/nat-king-cole-autumn-leaves-lyrics.html
Have we fallen out of love with Autumn? Spring, Summer, Winter? The much-more-challenging-to-spell, autumn, from the Latin, autumnus, came to the New World in the 1600s. Poets had already associated autumn with ‘the fall’ of leaves. North Americans adopted ‘Fall’ annually, at the time-change: ‘Spring forward. Fall back.’
Autumn is falling (out of use). Or have we Settlers fallen into a bad habit? Fallen under Fall’s spell, Leaf?
From ‘what’s its name’ to ‘when it happens’ is also disputed. Meteorologists and climatologists (who are on the up and up) claim that temperate seasons begin at the beginning of each three-month season (September-November). Astronomers wait for the Equinox (equal night) on September 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere to kick off ‘Fall’ (‘Spring’ in the Southern).
Whatever you call it and whenever you kick it off: F- for American Football season is further fall fun and a time for new projects. We are thankful for this time of renewal: a reaping, a picking and a gathering festival (the ‘haer,’ of ‘harvest’).
In my own lyric, ‘Heh Leaf’ (above), I wordplay the season, ‘Fall’.
Let’s just say we’re well into it ‘when autumn leaves start to fall’.
Leaf yourself something to fall back upon, eh Leaf? Turn it over. Squirrel it away.