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.

A New Spring

The Spring 

is a new morning 

that is fresh from a night's rain.

 

The birds now

bring the Dawn Chorus.

To me 

a welcome invitation 

to lie in bed and listen

To crisp bright song, 

a joy,
 a sensuous promise,

a primal pairing

of touch,

of warmth,

and an assurance 

of love. 

In the forest,

the flowers arrive

 like old friends,

The lush new leaves erupt

and spread their palms

to catch the sun.

 The warm days welcome 

a tidal exploration,

a discovery

of all

 the tide has left

behind.

Golden Girl

Her golden curls 

fall 

in soft spirals

over the meadow,

textures that grip my imagination

and tug at my heart

I see her form reclining

along the edge of fall leaves,

in the gold and red of the meadow.

She prepares a feast. 

A fascination of fungi, 
the beautiful,

the exotic

the elegant 
and the delicious.

Haunted

Her memory tugs

at my heart

like a trout not yet free.

 Even among

my favorite things,

I hear her voice

 among the ferns.

 

Surrounded by her

favorite green,

I am only then 

distracted

 from 

her memory. 

jsc