[ The Equinox Nears Pulling The Nights Shadows ] Poem by Marshall E Gass

Equinox pulling nights shadows
back over bright days. Swallows head home
where the sun grows stronger. The garden, slows down
packs up it belongings and bundled into seeds
awaits the pickers and packers.
Autumn takes on its rouge
cosmetic sedentary demeanour,
as leaves drop off into shades
of brown and bark, burnt from beauty
in the summer caress, now yielding
to the cusp of cold winds taming the
North and East, slowly changing the landscape
into a damp squid waiting for harvests of
last fruits and flowers, before winter comes
softly in with icy winds and blanket mist coloured
morning and evenings,
fireplaces roar life and laughter.

Winter settles like a city smog
shading the last gasp of warm sun
under a duvet of dainty dreams.

We look out for the coming Christmas
of family, friends, and greetings cards
that will burst upon our sense of beauty
with a carol honed in honeytones of harmony
practised over weeks of preparation.

Another year will drop on the calendar
of events that we carry forward
to every season.