On an Afternoon Walk ~ Autumn Glow

 

autumn glows 

on bush and hedge,

while early afternoon sun 

shines on dark purple berries 

for an avian feast

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious 

as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.”

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne,  

(1804 ~ 1864)

Graceful Autumn

Steady pace, 

cooling air pushed me 

toward home ~ 

until I saw the grace 

that fading leaves share 

with the world. 

Worrying about a sweater 

was the last thing on my mind 

replaced by the beauty that is autumn. 

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace 

as I have seen in one autumnal face.”

~ John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose

(1572 - 16310

All in a Jumble

Crisp red and gold leaves

nestled in curb and corner, 

scattered on lawns and patios. 

Winds try in vain to fool us ~

fool us into believing 

autumn colours are gone ~

look down and around to see 

these jumbles of colour,

brushed from the trees, 

tucked away at our feet.

“The wind likes making jokes!”

~ Mehmet Murat Ildan, writer

For the Noonday Sun

Spring blossoms, 

pink and translucent, 

whisked away too soon 

by cruel winds 

but autumn blossoms 

in gold and red, 

a filter for noonday sun 

give me joy.

“How beautiful the leaves grow old. 

How full of light and color are their last days.”

~ John Burroughs, essayist

(1837 ~ 1921)

Messy and Unkempt

Each day offers a newness 

that wasn’t there yesterday 

for each day is special and precious. 

Today it was the 

beauty and bounty of autumn. 

Messy and unkempt but 

banquets for birds, bugs and bees.

My pull to tidy things up 

flew away with the wind. 

The untidy arrangements 

that autumn brings to be left to 

the natural world and homeowners.

“The bounty of nature is too little for the greedy person.”

~ Seneca the Younger, Stoic philosopher 

Born: 4 BC; Died AD 65 (aged 67 - 68)

The Real Autumn Comes

As autumn settles in 

wasps are sluggish 

yet still annoying; 

fruit flies still hover

and are yet to feel 

the cool of autumn,

playgrounds are quieter

as schools absorb our children, 

golden leaves drift from elms, 

yet to fill the corners and curbs

The air breathes sweater cool.

Calendar dictum remains in summer, 

autumn equinox only days away 

These cool days prepare the world

 for the beauty of real autumn.

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”

~ Oscar Wilde

Weathered

This a tough one 

this winter of ice and snow 

and rain and ice and snow 

temperatures dip and dive 

to really, really cold and 

climb slowly to just cold. 

I have no complaints though 

because I know 

it is only temporary. 

As temporary as clouds scudding across the sky; 

as the grass grows and then fades away til next spring; 

as the wind that is blustery and bossy one day 

and next is a mere pussy cat purring 

through the hair on my head. 

So this tough one of winter will pass, 

the excitement of spring and summer 

spread dandelion umbrellas and the fluff of poplars, 

while we say that 

the rain in spring time is too much or not enough; 

the sun in summer is too hot or too bright. 

the leaves in autumn are falling too soon

So, I say, weather is just a tough one ~ but then so am I. 

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more that we think we can.”

~ Frida Kahlo, artist

Their Own Beauty

 

Brilliant fuschia peonies 

crowned this bush at bloom time. 

Now slender leaves display

their own beauty before 

the fade and sleep of autumn.

“Colours make nature pulsate with life.”

~ Michael Bassey Johnson,  Song of a Nature Lover

Wind Swept

Thoughts

like crisped leaves 

rustling along the sidewalks 

at the beck and call 

of the wind or my booted feet.

~ the red gold crunch of autumn.

“Anyone who things fallen leaves are dead 

has never watched them dancing on a windy day.”

~ Shira Tamir

Always Time

On a grey day 

when the wind is low 

and the air is cool 

there is always time 

to pause and notice 

dark purple berries surrounded 

by autumn gold and green .

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, 

if we but know what to do with it.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803~ 1882)