TAPESTRY OF AUTUMN

While riding on Highway 299E to Highway 139 near Willow Creek Campground in Northern California, I was treated to the beauty of Nature’s Tapestry of Autumn, with her woven threads of color boldly stretching across the landscape.  The colors of the changing seasons seem always to inspire a desire to try my hand at poetry.  No matter how silly the words seem to sound, they tumble around within my head anyway.  Here, in my feeble attempt, is an example of the words tumbling about like a tumultuous array of colors in a kaleidoscope.

 From Yellow to Gold,

Amber to Bronze,

Scarlet to Red,

To gently Pinked fronds,

Buckskin to Beige,

And Wheat to Fawn,

Orange to Chestnut,

To Purple-Lavender nuance,

These are the colors of Autumn,

Softly warming the Dawn.

The Maples are Burning Red

The sky with their hues,

While Sycamores are cashing in

Their Gold to pay their dues,

And

The Willow leaves drift gently

Down to cover all the clues

Of the last days of Summer,

Labeled “Indian,”

Bemused.

As it creeps up the path,

Worn bare

And over used,

The Vines of Deception enjoy

Their cleverly placed ruse,

While

Streaming up and over,

With thorns sharp

And quite saw-toothed,

To prick the skin

With

Their comment so

Blatantly obtuse.

Still the vibrant colors keep warming

The dawn,

Carefree

And utterly foot loose.

Like the bare foot Child,

With no socks,

And no shoes,

The Aspen with no cover,

For her crown,

Will amuse,

The Wind whipping her tendrils,

So fragile

And abused,

Until the snow falls thick,

Pale and profuse,

Delivering Winter’s message,

Of cold, stark, Whitened News,

Of icicle fingers,

Hanging knife-like,

Protrude,

From silhouetted trees,

Standing naked,

And quite nude,

Like Sentinel Soldiers,

Their ice-knives sharp,

And crude.

Knowing only Springs warmth,

With Winter seduced,

Rings in the Summer,

Like some colorful Sleuth,

To herald the changes,

Each Season might choose,

Like a quiet Lover,

As his Fair Maiden he woos,

With subtleness and care,

The colors exude,

Like the words of the Lovers,

And the feelings they muse,

While

Feeling the changing of colors

And the changing of moods.

From Yellow to Gold,

Amber to Bronze,

Scarlet to Red,

To gently Pinked fronds,

Buckskin to Beige,

And Wheat to Fawn,

Orange to Chestnut,

To Purple-Lavender nuance,

Are the colors of Autumn,

That still softly warm the Dawn.