The sound of wooden rake scratching concrete. br walk nearer - rustle of dry leaves. br br This, the beginning of a Japanese haiku br or maybe a Japanese film - br dry sound first, then rake, then leaves, then man - br that evokes autumn br too near the heart br to need a title br br the sound stops. silence. man leans on rake. br then match strikes, there's almost yes an echo br from the dry leaves not yet fallen from the trees br in the forest all around. br br then the first tickle in the nostrils br of burning leaves which br the two-year old scrunching through the trees br hand in hand with older sister br will remember all his life br like the silence between br two lines of a haiku or br the silence of the moment when the seasons turn.