The Flowers of Fall

The simple pleasures of  August, 

 the new green leaves,

The rein orchids, 
found above the firs,
 in high oak meadows.

 Seaside cliffs show
 the pale green of maiden-hair ferns,

with crisp white lichen,
 next to brilliant patches 
of moss and sedum.

In the coastal forest,
a single delight, Moneses.

On sandy shorelines 
the migrants come
 to join the September harvest

This year a rain brings 
blossoming fungi,

brilliant and exotic 

in their floral beauty,

Sometimes strange in form,

brilliant in colour,

Some are choice for the palate,
others for the eye.

One twilight evening
in a frost-chilled forest,

a perfect silence descends

and leads me 

to a shelf of Oyster Mushrooms,

still perfectly frozen.

Now darkness emerges
from deep green forest lairs,
where
 in silence, 
keen eyes and ears

follow my path.