balance?

autumnal equinox ’12   

a quarter moon hovers in the pale blue sky,
a breeze lightly rustles the leaves around me:

most still green as high summer,
though the dogwood’s leaves ache toward rose,
as if its clusters of red seeds
pull the color hiding behind the green,

one lone white fluff of wild seed
floats by in hope of a future,

gourds hang full and heavy from the fence,

and the pumpkins are ready for harvest any time,





















the last of the muscadine adorn the vines
 like perfect purple ornaments:

so sweet and so tart at the same time,

like the grape, here we are,
 poised for a moment in balance,
light and night equal,
summer’s heat and winter’s cold both reach for us,

the air stills and the soft light of the lowering sun
slowly lessens the day left to me,

Sun & Earth feel in balance--
more common is to feel one way for awhile
and then another way soon after,
harmony has that of stasis about it,
and living is process, we teeter and totter in change,

today can teach us that extremes can balance, for a moment,

the wind picks up and some maple leaves flutter to the ground,

it’s time to go inside and fry the okra.

by Henry H. Walker
September 21, ’12