Oh how the north wind walks across
the fading grass and bends the dry
swirling leaves upwards towards
the emptying branches and back downward
one last time.
See red apples just dangle
so deliciously in splendid ripeness
against deepest blue sky.
In these days of
equal dark and equal light
captured seasons changing and reversing
once again past with present.
Dreamy hazy summer afternoons
and bounties of sunny heat now trapped
in the swollen goldness of their fruits.
See how deep purple blooms
from heads of aster still dance
among the adorned of all fall flowers.
Watch the wild flocks descend and rise
so silently on invisible treadmills of air
so swiftly do they come and go.
The steam rises from a canning pot
and the windows fog as jars
are filled and placed in boiling water baths
and thus seals our fate and ensures our survival
for what comes next.
Oh and the brightest orange pumpkins rest near
corn stalks brown and how to laugh at silly scarecrows
wearing out of fashion plaids with twisted smiles
and craning necks saying,
“How I love you all. “