Softly you laugh, and vex me with your kiss
crumbling my will to ignore your bold fire
as I relent to cinnabar desire
roused by the hints of autumn-tinted bliss
glinting upon the zephyr’s ruddiness
You strut across my firmly planted ire
and never pause to even once inquire
if I should seek a lover such as this
You overthrow my sanguine-steeped intent
to disregard your winning works of art
Why is it now, that I cannot resent
the lavishness your fingertips impart
as you prey on love's languishing lament
and thus seduce my true-blue summer heart
***
Methinks the earth reserves its utter-best
to soothe the summer-heart’s acquiescent sigh
for bluer is autumn’s pure azure dye
than summer’s satisfying sapphire crest
imbuing expectation’s blind request
The embellishing of cloud-tumbled sky
draws the stoic gaze of hope's devoted eye
rendering her quite speechless and impressed
as gently she relinquishes her will
advancing slowly ‘cross a rustling floor
caressed with weightless teardrops as they spill
from walnut, maple, birch; soundless they pour
Arabesque comfort bleeds from autumn’s chill
painting its parting on earth’s auburn shore
***
No longer do I seek to quell its glance
as drooping lashes spark the two-toned breeze
igniting laughter of the scarlet trees
and suddenly this summer-heart must dance;
kiss sorrow from the lips of circumstance
Heaven designs rare moments such as these
of musty grapes and lumb’ring honey-bees
Mesmerizing grief within its trance
Fall sonnets trickle from the russet vine
in tendrils of a reminiscent croon
as love and loss and longing intertwine,
the scent of dusk scatters the afternoon
How full the umber draught of autumn’s wine
Earth’s pining slumbers ‘neath the harvest moon
crumbling my will to ignore your bold fire
as I relent to cinnabar desire
roused by the hints of autumn-tinted bliss
glinting upon the zephyr’s ruddiness
You strut across my firmly planted ire
and never pause to even once inquire
if I should seek a lover such as this
You overthrow my sanguine-steeped intent
to disregard your winning works of art
Why is it now, that I cannot resent
the lavishness your fingertips impart
as you prey on love's languishing lament
and thus seduce my true-blue summer heart
***
Methinks the earth reserves its utter-best
to soothe the summer-heart’s acquiescent sigh
for bluer is autumn’s pure azure dye
than summer’s satisfying sapphire crest
imbuing expectation’s blind request
The embellishing of cloud-tumbled sky
draws the stoic gaze of hope's devoted eye
rendering her quite speechless and impressed
as gently she relinquishes her will
advancing slowly ‘cross a rustling floor
caressed with weightless teardrops as they spill
from walnut, maple, birch; soundless they pour
Arabesque comfort bleeds from autumn’s chill
painting its parting on earth’s auburn shore
***
No longer do I seek to quell its glance
as drooping lashes spark the two-toned breeze
igniting laughter of the scarlet trees
and suddenly this summer-heart must dance;
kiss sorrow from the lips of circumstance
Heaven designs rare moments such as these
of musty grapes and lumb’ring honey-bees
Mesmerizing grief within its trance
Fall sonnets trickle from the russet vine
in tendrils of a reminiscent croon
as love and loss and longing intertwine,
the scent of dusk scatters the afternoon
How full the umber draught of autumn’s wine
Earth’s pining slumbers ‘neath the harvest moon
© Janet Martin
