Friday, October 10, 2014

a subtle Fall



change rules

Fall is subtle so far, murmurs not shouts,

rusty poplar leaves start to gather on the ground,
yellow moves in with the green above,
like the first grey hairs of middle age,
lower leaves on the rhododendron, 
yellow like flat bananas,
point to the ground as if each knows
the imminence of their return to the earth,






high up on the mountain cold comes earlier
and brings color to the high trees,
who, when released from the hovering grey fog,
almost shout their individuality,






























as the deciduous differentiates from evergreen spruce and fir,

at 6600 feet sleet moves in with the wind-thrown drizzle,

nature prepares for the inevitable
as the year cycles toward the dying,
toward the clarity of winter
and the hopeful rising of spring,

so like the cycles of the Moon,
who each month remind us that change rules,
that there is a time to be new like a birth,
to thrive in our summer and slip away as winter calls,

as the air clears, so may our understanding.


by Henry H. Walker
October 5, ’14

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