It's amazing that nature's behavior can have such profound effects on our joy. Fall is my favorite time as well, crisp air, hot drinks, spectacular color, and a reminder that we must all rest to grow and strengthen and flourish. But it is also a simpler time where so much can discerned, and focus can be regained.

I love the imagery of awakening with a sense of foreboding and loss, as if you'd been deprived the restful rejuvenation that sleep offers, feeling instead that you have engaged in unknown battles instead...maybe even having lost them. You create powerful mind pictures that speak so deeply. I'm glad that in this instance clarity met you upon arousing... I feel that while your sleep may have been troubled, you emerged the victor.