October rings loudly the bell

signaling summer's death knell

the metamorphosis of earth's life forms

retreating, scurrying, gathering

readying for a determinate repose

not without a whimper or magnificent flurry

and colorful explosion will they go

sugar maple and pin oak

stretch, shake, their leaves in permutation

colors brilliant unwinding in death's spiral

to ground they go

sentenced to have life severed

in the ebbing flow

of life giving juices

as the sun's arc retreats southward

burrows are hastily stuffed

for warmth

sustenance stowed

nesting places re-twigged, lined anew

grassy insulation, nature's quilting beds

now off to rest with you all

can't you see it coming

it's winter

don't be fooled by this, fall