Autumn Takes

A few observations as the beauty of the season starts to wane here in the north country.



Autumn Takes

I

Many of the trees drag
this fall. The usual show-stopping
scenes already faded
from the trunk.

Their vaunted season finale
subdued and lackluster.
A chorus line weary from too long
a run. The enthusiasm
of the director dissipated
in the rain.

II

Overnight
the uppermost branches
of a holdout maple
dipped into a cask of ruby claret.

Telltale tips stained
like a paint brush upended
and left in the breeze
by a distracted designer.

III

Some hardwoods
swiftly strip themselves of foliage
except for the very top.

In naked delight
they shimmy in the wind,
high leaves dancing with abandon.

Like a long-ago lover of mine,
stocking feet wiggling happily
in the air and all else bare.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor