Leaf

if I were to be reborn
I would like to be a leaf

a brief but blissful life
under sun and shower
slowly unfurling
useful

when the cold snaps me
I will be brilliant crimson and ochre
and fall away
unscarred

Seasonal Haiku

arbor rain smells
of chlorophyll and earth
worms and robins
muddied sneakers

a snowflake falls
on an early
snowdrop

lackadaisical:
a chime lounges
on a windless day

elegant trees shed
teardrops of red
and ocher

Note: It’s been a while…I hope you all are well. =)

A Minor Sacrifice

cold toes
bloodletting
for winter solstice

9 to 5 in October

running the treadmill
neurons denote: chilly weather
fog and rain

sweaters to be pulled
from summer hibernation

tasks that pile like firewood
against a long dark winter

eyes thread traffic
but ignore the change
of autumn leaves

Brittle

autumn scatters leaves
sunburnt early

with edges rimmed
and puckered

the mouths of ill
children
crying in vain
as they are swept away

Criers for the Queen

two trees in a green meadow
harken the footsteps of Autumn
showering gold and crimson
for Her royal train

Warblers in Autumn

On the branch, a snap, a creak
and the pinches of a warbler’s beak.

One bug, two bugs, all caught quick
from bark to twig and foliage mixed.

His hunger demands in all its might
to be sated before the southern flight;

Winter comes, a long cold night.

Heatwave

waiting for the cool skirt of night
to sweep away the Indian summer
I am brown and over-ripe
and seek the relief of harvest

Lament of Late Summer

the nights still hold midday’s breath
but on deceptive winds, the winged flee
heralding the approaching cold
fall’s crispness
winter
snap

The Wind Visits a Seaside Town

The wind romped across the hill on a crisp fall day
and rustling, slipped over the nearby bay
to make full the withered sails of masted boats
and tug on the pedestrians’ close-clutched coats