Autumn Seen Starkly
by Michael Doyle

October 2nd and the days are wearing thin
I suppose it is true that Winter is coming again
This, then, is the truth of Autumn seen starkly
As the days grow shorter and are seen darkly

Poetry captures violent moments of change
Autumn is such a moment when the world rearranges
The memories of warmth become the cold's creep
And the ice in our veins begins the impartial seep

Deciduous leaves turn golden, touched by death
That causes these to fall like the reaper's breath
With vivid colors, the leaves shrivel and fall
And that certain knowledge changes us as we recall

That Winter is coming just around the bend
And the cold of Winter is rarely anyone's friend
Time keeps slipping - slipping further away
We wish vainly that our childhood might yet stay

To put things straightforward and put it simply
Our heartbeats shudder as the truth amplifies
These moments that transmute with their radiance
As we sit aghast, thinking back on our decadence

A blessedness of sunlight poises hanging in the air
As memories collect the love we thought was everywhere
Only to find life's true growth never really withers
It only hibernates to revive with Spring's turning weather

Old life gives way to that which is thought of as new
But without that which came before it, we would have never knew
The traces of its ancient lineage that blossoms and flowers
In cycles of life that spin out the universal hours

(c) October 2, 2023   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved