Apple-boughs bend ‘neath the bounty of Red
Birch-leaf-shaped butterflies flutter by, gold
Candle-light flickers on limbs overhead
Dusk drips from lintels daylight cannot hold
Earth is a Masterpiece hung from the sky
Flower-like petals settle, paper-plush
Gilding streets with summer’s lost lullaby
Halo of heaven crowns bramble and brush
Is there a poem more perfect than this?
Jaded arrangements of wild, wind-swept vine
Kiss of a rain-runnel, smoky blue bliss
Love songs and laughter and tears intertwine
Marmalade mosaics stipple earth’s sod
Nature holds nothing back; its poets swoon
Orchestral lyrics penned by none but God
Pumpkin-pie happiness tickles poised spoon
Quilt-tatters scatter, rainbow splattered shroud
Row after row of harvest disappears
Skein of wild-geese skims yon-scrim of low cloud
Trees shed their glory like youth sheds its years
Under an awning of autumnal blaze
Vermilion rivers rush beneath our feet
Whispering echoes of fleet, sun-steeped days
X-tracting flavors of life, bitter-sweet
Young to old pause, awestruck by nature’s throng
Zenith of praise swells in Hallelujah-song
© Janet Martin
