Septembers I Have Known

                             
                                     

fall comes in

on little puppy paws

that gambol joyously

through the crunchy leaves

cavort through

every muddy puddle

                                     

plunge into

every bouncy pile

of crumpled maple 

baby boys

investigate

their first leafy mountain

and baby pups

explore

their brand new world

with

trusting eyes

there are deer

in the fields

as autumn nears -

bears are feeding

on blackberry and apple

some mornings

there is a hint of wood-smoke

oakey and delicious

and evenings, now,

have that smell of late summer

remembered from childhood

as the crickets chirp

the evening in

September

is Planet Earth

honed to

perfection

amber sunlight

bending willows

poplars swaying

like tall sentinels

as the month

bridges us

from hot summer

to winter chill

we savor the warmth

and mellowness

which will not last

and recognize

another summer's

passed

Another summer has passed, kids......September has always been my favorite month, especially here, where summer heat is too intense for this ocean seabird. In the photos are Jasmine and Lukey as puppies, and Damian as a baby, when he lived here on the farm.

They all grow so fast, and the years fly by waaaaaaaaaaay too fast. 

Posted for Ella's prompt at Poets United's Think Tank Thursday: signs of autumn

Once In Autumn........

Once in Autumn.......

Nekiah hand-stitched

every single leaf

to make Tree Spirit

costumes

for you and

your friend, 

Isaac Blue Sky.

How could we know

back then

just how precious

were those fleeting

days of grace?

Just how fast

it all was

flying by?

First, you grew.

Before I knew it,

before I was ready,

you were

out of the nest

and away,

living all

of your heartbreaks

and hard times,

so young and heedless

and rash,

my hair slowly

turning

the color

of silvery ash.

Nekiah is gone.

It was cancer.

And Isaac Blue Sky's

life has been

fractured.

Those innocent faces

up there,

those round

trusting eyes

that enraptured,

those smiles

that had not yet

known pain........

remind me

that

once,

once in autumn,

we all lived

precious days

that will

not,

will not ever

come

again.

A Flower.......

image: share.triangle.com

[This poem is from way back in 1981. I had not been writing for a while. Then I found the coffeehouse,
that set my soul to stirring once again.]

Does one ask a flower to grow?
I just let it be,
letting it unfold
as it unfolds,
petal by petal,
carefully.

I take care
not to thwart
the solitary splendor
of its blooming,
remembering
a flower glows
just as brightly
in an empty lot
as when
my eyes
turn upon it
to share
the sudden sweetness
of its garden plot.

As petals
catch the wind
and dance
under the sun
so do you glow.
Your beauty
casts
a clear and steady light
that does not dim
and it shines more
the more
I come to know.

We touch
elusively
as fragile stems
holding up
heavy blooms,
nodding
in the breeze.
The blooms are
our two lives.
From underneath
their precarious
weight
our hands
emerge
like leaves.

Your solitude
speaks
to the peaceful
solitude
in me
and deep within
my quiet heart
I can feel
something gentle
yearn
to be
set free.