Late Autumn - Rich Meyers

[Larry Robinson]

Late Autumn

Late Autumn's shiver peels loose
the petals the sun warmed in summer
preparing for the sharp winds and fury
of rains, winter's threshold the startled
psyche now crosses.
    The fall, harbinger of changing moods,
pulled the net of the lowering sun into the
sleek inlets of contemplation, inviting impasse
and withdrawal. November air freezes the 
nailed,half-peeled calender page that signals
the solstice and the bracing for the cold and
demanding days ahead. Already we've seen
geese on their flights spreading omens of 
change. For some winter will signal renewed
intentions while for others unfinished chores
will have to wait. We will survive and in time
bless this cycle as the song that endures
in the sound of adversity with it's brave note
of will and self-forgiveness.
    Such sounds were heard in Fall's elegies
of birds, moods felt in the trees' disrobing of
their colored leaves, flowers tearful in the morning's
veils of frost. Now the earth will become even more
reclusive. Windows will darken, maybe our spirits
as well. Sudden December will pull away from
much of what's tentative and irresolute inside us,
precipitating perhaps an adaptation to a deeper
and unstoppable will. Late Autumn is the corridor
preceding a sharp shift. It allows us to shelter
in our gathered bedding for that nestled gift of
intimate sleep.

   - Rich Meyers