Sun. Jun 15th, 2025

Sunday came, and without slowing down to let anyone notice, it went. Sundays have a way of doing that.

On the dissolving horizon the sky looks good enough to eat: orange sorbet on a dark purple plate; overhead black birds want in on the action, circling one another, entwined in their autumnal ritual.

My dog punches the clock, chasing after creatures he has no chance of catching. He chases squirrels the way his owner chases women: blindly and brazenly, but with no idea what he’d actually do if he ever caught one.

All around me, innocent leaves are leaping to their deaths, propelled by forces they never asked to understand.

I step on dead souls blown about by my brother, the wind. I talk to the wind, the wind cannot hear. The wind does not hear (I did not write that).

I feel sorry for the leaves, obliged to suicide themselves, only days after celebrating the fleet summer of their fall, their full flowering of uncontainable colors, their collective contribution to the teeming vibrancy of a landscape they can’t stay long enough to share.

The wind speaks: Stay out of this, it says.

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By Sean Murphy

Subscribe to my Substack Award-winning author Sean Murphy in conversation with creative thinkers, spanning the literary, music, art, politics, and tech industries. As a cultural critic, professor, founder of a literary non-profit, Sean is always looking to explore and celebrate the ways Story is integral to how we define ourselves, as artists and human beings. This Substack newsletter and weekly podcast peels back the layers of how creativity works, why it matters, how our most brilliant minds achieve mastery. Join us to explore how our most successful and inspired storytellers engage by discussing craft, routines, brand, and mostly through authentic and honest expression. Subscribe at seanmurphy.live Connect with me Website: seanmurphy.net Twitter: @bullmurph Instagram: @bullmurph Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorSeanMurphy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sean-murphy-4986b41