Of Autumn and Autographs

You woo and you vex

You soothe and perplex

Running rampant fingers

Across timber-tress

And all in between

Where sweet summer had been

You turn green to gold

With ambiguous caress

You gather beneath

Your cumulus wreath

Memories and moments

Of memories to come

How early your night

Snuffs the day from our sight

Where porch-lights are beacons

To welcome us home

You chuckle then weep

You arouse, lull to sleep

Seraphim slide-show

Of shadow and sun

Kissing the air

With ambivalent flare

You steal a day

That has scarcely begun

You rage then you dance

Your tempestuous romance

Teases, appeases

Persuades us to laugh

Until one day

It seems you slip away

And all we can find

Is Jack Frost’s autograph

© Janet Martin