Signs Of Autumn Poem by Dana Koons

Peach, pear and apple essence fill the orchard air,
Wind bent limbs uplift themselves shedding summer shroud,
Expectant sow investigates a wisely hidden birthing lair,
Raptors glide on thermals to reach the cirrus clouds.

Painted are the lakeshores with scarlet, orange, and ochre leaves,
Songbirds search for sustenance in newly shaven hay,
Restless geese depart for lands lodged in natal memories,
Acorn laden squirrels abound and noisily enhance caches.
Enamored buck now contemplates a long contentious rut,
Violet asters dance ballet upon the breezy lea,
Beavers gather winter hoard to strengthen cozy huts,
Statuesque the cornstalks stand with fallen husks astray.

Currents ebb in cooling streams while ferns display their yellow fronds,
Woodchuck’s trail appears unkempt, earthen burrow still,
Trees reflect their images on quiet shallow ponds,
Sunrise melts the frost of night to glaze the grassy hills.

Nightfall at the forest edge teems with cricket symphonies,
Dreamy clear the atmosphere, a stellar time to stargaze,
Roughed grouse filling crop with seed, scarce become the honeybees,
Needles thick below the pines tempt a soul to laze.

These wonders of the woodland Fall, so beautiful, so starkly real,
Hold a value far beyond our measure,
Respite from a world of fences, concrete, greed and steel,
Splendid are the Autumn signs, precious gifts of priceless treasure.