Day and night begin to balance
in the slow turn to autumn;
hints of yellow and gold,
fog on the water,
sunlight dimming.
I go toward the dark
ready to release
and find again the roots
that feed the world unseen.
Earth has spread her leaves
in the great dance of summer
and now the rhythm changes,
a lower octave begins to sound.
I have shaped and made
what I could of clay and light;
soon the rains will come
filling the rivers,
blanketing the mountains,
winter to teach
once more of origin.
Gracefully the leaves will fall,
quietly come the darkness.
Over this past year you have shared a Garden of Delight with us through the poetry of your spirit and your words. Antonio Machado wrote and asked: “What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?” You have answered that question in the poetry of your living and generously shared the fruitful essences of the harvest with us all here. What a delight it is to walk and work in the Garden and the Orchard and the Vinyard with you. Thank you for your warm welcome at the Gate.
My Brother… such a paucity of words yet richness of meaning. You are the Gift, Don.
It’s so lovely to wander The Heart of A Poet with you, Precious Brother..
“winter to teach once more of origin” well spoken, Don. I would like to add my voice to David Barnes’ and thank you for showing up so consistently for us in your world of The Poet’s Journal. Your attunement with the rhythms of Her Being is precious and daily and early, not unlike my hero William Stafford.
I love honoring the cycles of seasons in our Garden Earth, in our turn of times, and in my own Garden of living. To tend and keep the Garden is still the command of the Divine. Seeking new ways to do just that is a daily meditation.
Listen. Observe. Move with the cycles of Life. As we each do this, we find ourselves dancing together in this coming cycle of stillness.
I love your praise for the cycles that moves our Mother Earth! Thank you for your eloquence and your quiet heart that entertains such beauty, Don! Sending you my love!
Gracias mi amigo!
Good morning, Don. What more can I say following the five beautiful responses above? Perhaps, simply, that your poem moves me deeply. I feel autumn moving over me like a lovely blanket, gathering me up in its folds, as nature here on the high plains of Colorado begins a gentle shift into fall.
Thank you.
Lovely, Don. I’ve taken a couple of fragments as possible lyrics for rounds.
Like the turning of the tide Autumn finds us once again..and though my being wants to cling to the gifts of summer your words help me to loosen that grasp and go with the flow of the season, the time, the heart….
The falling leaf slowly brings a long rest of winter. There are moments that unwanted gift simply happens, never mind opining otherwise. Have I forgotten how lovely the first snow flake is…and that loosens the grip.
Don, thanks for this sweet reflection.
Yes, Don, this speaks of cycles of life that we have come to depend on.
Golden! ❤️☮️