I Have Slipped The Marigold Stitch Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

I have slipped the marigold stitch
of heart murmuring autumn and
come to tell you this: that memory persists beyond words
the scent of chrysanthemum and leaf mold denoting
late afternoons, the caw of birds erupting over the firework
coloured trees; let the clouds lower in the serendipitous breeze
foretelling their slate colours of blue and orangeish rose
the wild apple tangle and the cider thoroughfares of my enclosure
and the moon pumpkin old gold drifting over the former prairies
stay my delights let them not vanish utterly
but the murmur of autumn presages everything
I weep for, all the garnet dusks and I would gather them
all, the rust flowers
tied fast with this worn ribbon of tremulous amber.
that signifies, perhaps, this is the last.
mary angela douglas 21 september 2021