First Frost
Category Archives: Poetry
Autumn’s Song
Everything is gold.
The trees above my head are bright as the sunlight,
Which filters down through the gaps in the leaves.
The ground under my feet is completely covered by the fallen,
And with every step a crisp rustle-crunch rings out.
The winter birds are calling,
The branches whisper-creak in the breeze,
And the music of autumn flows throughout nature.
It’s a soft song,
Whispers and creaks and rustles.
Nature’s very own lullaby.
It’s time for sleep,
For hibernating and migrating and settling in to wait.
For curling up somewhere warm
And letting nature sing you to sleep.
Whisper rustle creak.
It’s cold beneath the tree tops,
But so beautiful.
The wind blows again and loose leaves fall.
Fluttering to the ground as golden rain.
Drifting and spinning and falling down to the earth.
Over the winter they’ll turn to dirt,
And come spring those leaves will fuel the world’s rebirth.
But for now they sit, bright and gold and crisp,
Sitting quiet for now, until someone like me comes along;
Then it’s rustle-crunch, rustle-crunch,
Marking my path with Autumn’s music.
A Brown Thumb
All the grass around me dies,
For two miles as the crow flies.
And you should never think to doubt
That the seeds I plant will die as they sprout.
It’s been years since I saw a flower bloom;
When they meet me they meet their doom.
And you will not see a living tree
Within fifteen miles of me.
I don’t know why, just that I can’t
Prevent the death of any plant.
In fact, I kill them with greater ease
Than any insect, animal, vine, or disease.
At first, I thought it might be something in the dirt,
But I now know it’s me who causes their hurt.
I once hoped bad water might be the cause,
But truthfully the fault lies in my own flaws.
I cannot keep a plant alive,
No matter what amenities I contrive.
A good life I cannot provide,
For a potted plant kept inside.
And outside there is only death,
For any plant the feels my breath.
Not even a cactus will manage to thrive,
Not so long as I survive.
I may never see a flower bud,
For every seed I plant becomes a dud.
I’ve now given up on growing a garden,
And soon I think the ground will harden.
I know now that I’d have to be dumb,
Not to realize that I have a brown thumb.
Cloud Gazing
The dawn creeps up from beyond the trees,
Cutting sharp silhouettes out of indistinct shadows.
The horizon is a blur of pink and gold, which fades into pale blue
And then into a still dark purple.
There’s beauty in the sunrise, but magic in the clouds.
They cast dark shapes above the horizon,
Painting pictures in the early morning light.
A killer whale breaches waves of water vapor,
While a pirate ship bursts forth from fog.
A manta ray is flying across the horizon,
And a swordfish leaps into the air to strike a pose.
There’s a pelican sitting above the treeline,
And the ship’s captain is calling for a toast.
An ocean outlined by the dawn won’t last forever,
Or even for an hour,
But it will always be remembered.
Remember Fall
The air is crisp and fresh after rain
It’s chilly outside but not yet cold
And while the sky is filled with dark grey clouds
The trees are turning yellow and orange and red
And when the leaves drift off on the breeze
The ground gains the colors of fall too.
The clouds tell of storms to come
But they don’t yet cover the sky entirely
And the gaps they leave are bright blue
And when the sun peeks out you can feel it
Bright and warm against your skin
A reminder of the summer that’s now passed.
It won’t last forever.
The sun will pass again behind the clouds
The trees will be left barren
And their fallen leaves swept away
And the wind will grow harsh and biting
As the temperature drops below zero
And the ground begins to freeze.
Fall is a transitory season
But there’s beauty in its liminality
Because nothing will last
Everything is precious
Pictures won’t do it justice
So instead we must remember
Remember wind.
Remember color.
Remember sun.
Remember fall.
The First Week of November
The phony cobwebs are swept away,
But the carved pumpkins have yet to rot
And still sit on the steps in front of many houses.
The leftover candy, marked down after Halloween,
Has been cleared from the stores,
Their festive designs gone for another year,
But the children who spent their night walking
From door to door now have their own hoards
And like dragons they stand guard over their goodies
Waiting for their parents to turn their backs,
So that they can grab another piece of chocolate,
And keep their sugar high going strong.
Meanwhile, families make plans for Thanksgiving,
Searching for recipes to flaunt in front of friends and families,
Or thinking up excuses to avoid visiting in-laws.
There are still pumpkin spice variations of every product that could manage it,
Including those that should never have tried such a crossover.
The trees are still mostly covered in red and gold,
Though more leaves fall with every breeze,
And the ground is in desperate need of a rake.
Football season is in full swing,
And every sports bar is playing at least three games on any given night.
Charlie Brown will be making his way onto the small screen once again,
Forever famous for falling while trying to kick a ball.
Fall is heavy in the air.
Halloween has barely faded,
And Thanksgiving looms on the horizon.
And yet as I listen to the radio I can already hear them,
Christmas carols, playing through the first week of November.
Moonrise
The setting sun leaks colors of pink, orange, and yellow.
Diffusing through the sky, spreading into blues which fade,
First to purple, and then to black.
The moon rises in the East as the sun falls West;
Oranges and yellows blink out of sight,
Leaving a pink glow within the clouds.
Stars wink into existence
And purple overtakes the sun’s rosy glow.
Darkness sweeps over the day’s final rays,
The lights of night the only guide that remains,
As the moon reigns over the sky.
Flames
It started small;
Just sparks and a match.
The flame barely flickered,
Barely lived, and any breeze,
No matter how slight,
Would have been enough
To end the matter.
But fire’s nature is to grow,
And it was so sheltered,
So well fed and protected
That the flame grew steady,
Melting wax and burning through
The wick that played its nursemaid.
Fire is warmth and fire is life,
But with any life, it must not be left
Alone and unattended.
Just as a child grows unruly,
Running through the house
With no sense of order,
Growing wicked and wild,
So does a flame.
It may have burned itself out
When it reached the wick’s end,
But this flame, that had started so small,
So unassuming and frail,
Was determined to live,
To grow, to spread.
It sparked, just as Mother Match
Had done and it jumped,
From candlestick to parchment,
Just a little spark, but the ember caught.
Slowly burning a ring into its prey,
Until ember turned to flame
And spread once more.
No page was left untouched,
And as records and letters and clutter
Were cleared away a flame became a fire.
And the flames dripped off the mahogany,
Which only minutes ago was a beautiful desk,
And spread to a rug with swirling patterns.
Geometric shapes that brought to mind nature,
Flowered paths and tall oak trees and bird songs.
But the fabric forest turned to black,
Smothered by the intensity of fire’s passion,
Eroded away to reveal the polished wood below.
And fire takes that too, feeds and grows,
Running from desk to rug to floor to curtains,
And then up a wall and onto the ceiling.
The fire branches out, growing faster now than
Any match or candle may ever dream of doing.
Flames spiral around the room now,
Blazing through the walls and ceiling,
Just as embers blazed through parchment.
They dance through the air as they surge onward,
Moving from room to room, devouring all they can.
Feasting on kitchen and servants’ quarters and hallways,
On dining room and bedroom, parlor and nursery.
Never satisfied. Never sated. Never stopping.
The fire is ablaze, engulfing all it touches.
Glass windows shatter under the heat’s pressure,
And smoke swirls out into the sky, free at last to flee the flames,
Though fire’s tendrils rise to follow the ashen air,
Dreaming to touch the sky and know the feel of flying or floating or falling.
But fire takes too much too quickly, and the house it used to grow,
To feed and spread and rise and soar, can take no more of fire’s roar.
The wood is weakened, and the roof is sagging, and still the flames
Grow higher and higher. Until there can be no more.
The wood bends and breaks, and the roof falls.
Fire drops down once more and sparks fly—
But flames die.
To Drown
The ship rocks and the waves crash over the deck.
Lightning splits the sky and thunder roars.
The world creaks and moans.
And then it shifts—
Sliding screaming silence sinking—
The water churns and spins him around
Until he doesn’t know which way is up.
The world is dark except for a few seconds of lightning,
Or is that glint something shiny that was lost long ago?
It’s impossible to tell, and there isn’t time to think about it now;
The cold seeps into his bones even as his lungs start to burn.
They say it’s a peaceful way to go, to drown,
But the sea knows no peace,
No calm in the center of the storm.
The world is dark, except the spots in his vision are darker,
And his lungs are still burning, even as he opens his mouth,
And the cold rushes in but offers no relief.
The salt stings but he can hardly feel it now.
He can hardly feel anything now.
They say that it’s a pleasant way to go,
To drown.
They’re wrong.
Requiem
We offer sympathies to those who’ve lost someone.
We have to stay strong in the wake of this tragedy,
This one, singular, unpreventable event.
We lower the flag for a day, then return to our lives.
Everything will be fine.
It keeps on happening though, doesn’t it?
More and more often.
And again and again,
We offer sympathies to those who’ve lost someone.
We have to stay strong in the wake of this tragedy,
This latest, recurring, preventable event.
And nothing changes.
And the victims shout for change
For help
To just be heard
Over the finger pointing and the blame
Over the lies and the insults
Over the constant redirection of our attention.
11 dead in Pittsburgh.
That makes 294 shootings in 2018.
2017 had 346.
And what have we done about it?
We offer sympathies to those who’ve lost someone.
We have to stay strong in the wake of this tragedy,
This far from the last, cyclical, starting to be expected event.
We pledge to never forget,
But when do we remember?
Because no matter what pretty words we say,
We always fail to enact any real change.
And there are so many things we could be doing.
We don’t, but we could.
No more sympathies.
No more sorries.
They do nothing, change nothing, and are nothing.
It’s time to remember the dead,
And it’s time to do justice to their memories.
It’s time to stop those numbers.
Time for these people to be more than statistics to be ignored.
There are too many who have been lost already.
Summer’s End
Held within the tender palm
Of her sister, seldom seen
Did the brightest of them all
Feel the strength within her ween
Shudder, shiver, glow within
Shining bright against Autumn’s slow dance
The doe and the fawn found solace in last
Of warm days to come, and meadows to prance
A smile did cross Sister Summer at last
As meek Sister Autumn found strength to then stand
Her time had now come to lead the year’s cycle
The seasons together, to dance hand in hand
As Summer closed her eyes, so too did the sun
Its warm rays cooling as sky fled to night
Autumn turned away, but gave final glance
To the land stretched before her; a sister’s last light
Waking Giant
Swirling in the quiet coast
A frozen giant slumbers deep
Curled around her waking host
Creation’s vessel rising steep
Whipped by storm and crashing waves
Seared with flowing earth of fire
The island covers nature’s grave
‘Neath molten rock, the forest’s pyre
Wind to cloud, these ashen skies
Cloak the ocean’s hidden gem
Spewing hot the landscape’s rise
And bringing forth new life again
Immortal
Through cold eyes I gaze upon perfection,
And yet a sigh would deign to cloud my view.
How could such stagnant silver bear a god’s reflection
And yet still hold its burnished glow anew?
How could it capture once the me that was,
To throw before me now that which I’ve seen?
How could it bend most adamant of laws
And toss His plan to ravens while I preen?
The question’s pull grows dull once more,
The face of Heaven’s beauty drawn and droll.
For in this silver portrait of my core
I see a canvas more of paint than soul.
Brine
He should have drowned that night;
He knows this
Deep-down as the water goes.
His mother thinks the sea
Must have taken pity
On his poor sinner soul,
But he is unconvinced,
Says there’s no benevolence
In the dark and the deep-down.
The water still speaks to him–
Its voice hushed and delicate
As it beckons him home.
Some mornings he feels the tide still rising
In the back of his throat.
Last Call
You and I melt into one another
Like the ice in my highball glass
Just past 2 AM, when everything is hazy
And perfect, too heavy and too bright,
But still faultless, somehow:
Holding on to your fingertips in a crowded bar,
Giggling like we’ve just met,
Stage-whispering over the bad club remix
in our own secret language.
The Wreck
Like cloud astride the midnight sky
Their cold reflection in the deep
A lightless world, the silenced cry
Of ghosts of ocean’s muffled sleep
Swallowed by the silver crest
Of waves upon the moonlight cast
They failed the ocean’s bitter test
These sunken echoes of the past
Now rusted, crushed, made home anew
The victims of Poseidon’s wrath
Have found themselves a different crew
That lurk within the aftermath
Clarity
This world might end,
Tomorrow, next week,
While I’m still here
To watch it burn,
Or it might turn on and on and on
Til the sun take its
Dying breath.
Either way,
The cosmos won’t remember
Each time I tripped
over my own words
or when I cried in public.
Haunt
My grandfather built a house
With his own two hands.
I don’t think he ever expected
To haunt it.
My grandmother sees him
Everywhere she goes
Out of the corner
Of her dimming eye.
For her, it’s almost like
He never even left.