Another Autumn Awaits

 

Falling comes naturally

as common as fear 

another body

knocked down-

Learning how to climb

up to the canopy 

out of the arbor awnings

each branch a rung

bell 

a ladder 

has no top

The horizon awaits this distant gaze

further than 

a crow flies 

an escape 

too far to grasp, too afraid to take

it all in

to begin again

asking...

What is more

No-

body needs to learn

anything except 

landing 

softly

before rising again

with an icy wind

at knifepoint

only to return 

home, rootbound

thirsting 

for more.

Artwork by Ellen Thayer Fisher, 'Fall leaves and Acrons' c. 1885 in Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Asylum

Two-too
Clean and sterile-
eyes-
cataract and contract,
sting with bitter solutions.

Brain washed, scrubbed free
of build-up, calcification of old deposits-
there grows lye.

In the right conditions,
isolation is cleansing
by promise of reward,
acidic seconds feel like
first wounds and kisses.

In doctrinated, what grows
in sand and silt,
by narrow slit or gill
does any thing survive?

I listen as hard as I can strain
the tiny hairs,
metal and maddening stone,
there is no voice or moan outside.

Whispers cannot be made
out or in complete
thoughts shift weight,
in a pendulum.
Hearts of palms, beastly as apes
beat their fanned fronds
in the autumn air.

An oasis sits and steams
with life, preserved in pits
outside these pillowed walls

pane-less as this space is.



Artwork by Austin Osman Spare [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. 

Absorbing Autumn

Is it morbid to smell October
under Septembers fallen leaves,
dripping eaves?

I prefer not to be buried-thank you-
but I admit, it reminds me of a familiar place,
the earth Rising
and all...

Whereas when you see the sky
Falling
all over the place and filling in
with charcoal over blue with hefty white-
for contrast-
at last,
Relief.

Is it autumnal to wonder-
would it be better to biodegrade
or evaporate?

I am happiest under rain
when the leaves are crimson.



J. M. W. Turner [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. 
"Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway; the painting depicts an early locomotive of the Great Western Railway crossing the River Thames on Brunel's recently completed Maidenhead Railway Bridge.The painting is also credited for allowing a glimpse of the Romantic strife within Turner and his contemporaries over the issue of the technological advancement during the Industrial Revolution"

Symphonies of straw

A pin
A needle
      in a haystack
A drop
       in a bucket
A leaf
       on a tree
falls
         falling
                      fell
leaves
           leaving
                        left
with a thunder-
ing roar
A tree
            bends and peels
shaking and quaking
             in its earthy bed
shedding leafy sheets
              turning the page
the orchestra tunes
              its instruments for Autumn.


Image by By Rosendahl [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Awesome Autumn

Fall is when-

night is up

early.

A seasonal flare,

triggered trees in

flames.

Waving their flags-

to snowy surrender.

Warning warmly,

of Winters wanton wrath.

The air is crisp-

brittled and bundled,

nipping at numbing noses.

The sun briefly visits,

in cool fading interest,

bowing to the Wind

conducting the colorful chorus.

Dying leaves

stray and wander

in drifting decay.

Stockpiled and strewn,

tokens of child’s play.

Crimson, copper, coral,

tangerine, apricot, peach,

amber, saffron and shades of blonde;

Mother Earth blazing trails,

spilt her prismatic palette,

all over the canvased

November sky-

for no rhyme,

or reason,

Autumn is a lovely season.

Image by Digital nick, "Autumn in Slovakia", Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.