Ode to an Autumnal Equinox

IMG_0010Ode to an Autumnal Equinox 2013 © Joe Henderson

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Oh, Summer girl, basted in oil
& cooked in August’s oven
you stand before Autumn’s mirror
& gaze at the first signs of frost

Your mother’s face looks back
& you both smile, a little weary
your hair wreathed in oak leaves

Oh, shed that green dress
& put on red, purple and yellow
You look so nice & cool
as cool rains run rivelets through
your fingers
you cup to drink
then let it go, you cup again
& the rains end

As evening approaches the skies clear
a blue black purple light dark as night
that lifts clear from the edges of the earth
streaking the dome above
with luminous webs

One flares out directly overhead,
Cygnus, the Bird of Heaven
Or is it the Great Northern Cross?

What will it be called
ten centuries hence
when standing stone
& church alike are covered
with moss?

Like this ode to an Autumnal Equinox

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