Fall has arrived!

Trees, splendid in their autumn finery,

dance with the wind.

Branches weave and bow

making the streets gay

with brilliant confetti.

Children shriek in delight

as they scatter mounds of leaves

patiently piled by adults.

The tang of bonfires bites nostrils.

Dogs retrieve long lost bones –

found in cleared flower beds.

Birds flock, making patterns in the sky.

Tires hiss on wet paving.

Leaves plug drains

forming deep puddles

that brim bright rubber boots.

Fathers grin, Mothers despair!

Dogs bark, shaking soaked coats.

Cats test wet spots,

flinching as water dampens paws.

Mist hangs on the air,

wafting up from the shore.

Street lights gleam mysteriously.

A fog horn moans,

answered by the bleep of another;

lost in the deepening dusk.

People drift indoors

as light fades to evening.

Fires brighten rooms –

with leaping flames.

Smoke pours from chimneys –

like Genies from a bottle.

Hot baths warm chilled bones.

Hot soup warms chilled tums.

Security warms the heart.

The word family, is born again,

in the years declining days.

 
 
David Garlick, Victoria, October, 1988