Sun through leaves

garden waits

 

splice of gold

glints spider’s web

 

Japanese peonies raise

their heads

 

& the lilies Dorian planted

delicate red.

 

Frost on footpath

badger prints

 

hare sniffs breeze

dogs are set.

 

Russet autumn

here to tease

 

nature’s seduction

a hint of branch

 

raw brown earth:

a fleeting glimpse

 

of the bare bones

that’s  winter.

 

You take the 9.05.

across the river’s murky past

 

espresso clutched, again you puff

those deadly sticks.

 

The city breathes its history

laid out by hands whose words

 

you transcribe day by day

500 years of detailed text

 

only still to lock away

in hidden chapters in your head.

 

The evening’s dinner

lecture tour, those stranger’s faces

 

who applaud.

 

Safe from us the hungry hordes

of amateurs who long to see

 

through eyes that saw

through eyes that wept

 

500 hundred years of history

held captive by your PHD.

 

 

First leaf fall

golden.

 

‘’Summer will never end’’

They said…….

 

But here we are again

obsidian grey

 

berries bright & rain

pounding on the sill.

 

First leaf fall

I see it drift

 

a brisk crisp reminder

of things past……..

 

as we are.

 

 

 

 

 

Early morning chill

beaded sweat on wire

 

gold of autumn  tinge

between your heart & mine.

 

Drifted by so quick

a flash of tears & laughter

 

have brought us here.

 

Spring was full of hope

summer fluctuated

 

beautifully fecund.

 

Golden corn & silver wheat

surround me in high field.

 

It’s time to say goodbye

ephemeral  ”now ” slips

 

through my sticky fingers;

 

one glorious burst of gold,

a glinted copper sheen

 

across the span of years

to bridge us.

 

 

Tree tops & sky high

birds on wire:

 

murmuration.

 

Gold tipped leaf drop

end of summer

 

situation.

 

House wraps around me

long nights firelight:

 

Dome of sky, moon dance

love whispers on the green

 

calling me, calling me.