autumn mornings
- Jean Linville
- Oct 3, 2020
- 1 min read
September 28 - October 2 Week 32/72
are filled with an earthy perfume
damp leaves mixed with the faintest hint
of wood smoke from a newly stoked fire
hoping to chase away the cool night air
that slipped in through cracks and under doors
are bathed in orange-tinged light brushed onto
hilltops and the petals of the last Calendula blooms
as crows roughly call back and forth from trees
whose leaves are beginning to break free
slowly spiraling, like aged ballerinas, to the ground
are graced with fleeting visits from geese
arrived from somewhere off to the north
pausing to rest and eat with the remaining
wood ducks regally retracing their favorite
routes around the lake before they too take leave
Our calendulas are hanging on, too So are the tomatoes! Nobody stoking fires just yet, as it hasn't been that cold here by the ocean. Very cold just a mile and a half away in town. It has been so dry, though. The swamp level is down, and the soil is dry under the dampish crust. I have to take down the Boneset (part of Joe Pye family) today. We did not get the usual cluster of monarchs or really many butterflies at all this year. They love that bush. BUT, I don't know that I would ever plant it again. It's roots are like iron, and it took us literally about 15 hours to get a four-year-old Joe Py…