autumn mornings

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