Tuesday Poem: “Autumn”
Autumn
Aaaah, autumn,
the dying season of the year,
when shadows turn to grape,
chilled by the first, faint curl of mist
around the edges of the days,
foreshortened into clear, green twilights
as night shifts from summer’s deep velvet
to frosty black, the stars glow colder,
more distant, the leaves turn
gold, bronze, crimson, scarlet,
bravura counterpoint to cooling days –
then fall, in deep, rustling drifts
beneath austere branches, the earth
dark beneath their shadow, filled
with pale secrets, bulbs lying in
wait for spring’s warm ambush
to burst out upon the world again,
while far above their blind heads
smoke smudges the evening air,
breath hanging in the stillness
as feet stamp crisply, briskly,
knowing winter is almost here.
.
(c) Helen Lowe
Commended, Yellow Moon Nature Poetry Competition (August 2005)
Published Yellow Moon 18 (Australia), Summer 2006
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Well, it’s autumn here—so what better than an autumn poem!
Of course, now that A Game of Thrones has taken over the world via the small screen, I realise I should have written “winter is coming” rather than “winter is almost here.” 😉
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And here, its Spring (except in the Northeast, which got a dump of a Nor’easter and some snow in the mountains).
It’s a beautiful day!
I know those northern springs well from my time in Sweden—& still recall crocuses flowering valiantly above late snow.
Love that opening line, Helen – ‘Aaaah, autumn,’. It is that month where you sigh softly again, isn’t it?
Elizabeth, I find much to love in all the seasons, although I think autumn may be my favourite… even if it does mean that “winter is coming!”
We are enjoying spring in Wisconsin, but I can surely envision your autumn! We are enjoying A Game Of Thrones as well. My wife hasn’t read the books and so asks A LOT of questions!
Enjoy your spring!:) In Sweden I found spring magical after so many months of snow, but ‘hesitant’ as the snow could come again at any moment—the season tiptoed in.