The deciduous trees still have their foliage on
With
autumn changing hues like a chameleon
From
yellow and gold and red and brown
Some
leaves have already began falling down
Then
the autumn gales come quite inevitable
Leaving
the once proud trees quite skeletal
Sadly
now all the leaves have fallen down
Thus
adding to mother natures golden gown
Misty
mornings
Start
dim and dismal
Penetrating
Dampness
Seeping
into your bones
Some
days it brightens later
Enough
for shirtsleeves
Then
when darkness falls
Curtains
are drawn
At
the months beginning
Grass
is still growing green
The
trees are well covered still
Then
leaves turn green to yellow
Yellow
is burnished to gold
Gold
to burning red
Then
red to earth
Beyond
the equinox
Days
have already become
More
dark than light
Before
the clocks fall back
And
the sun sets sooner
Days
of sunshine deceive
Sheltered
pockets warm and confuse the senses
In
the later days
When
the residual warmth diminishes
The
bite remains
To herald worse to come
The autumn leaves fall
Like
flakes of gold
Drifting
to earth like surreal snow
In
the golden harvest
As
they fall, they dance
Wildly
in the breeze
To
autumns tune
Before
coming to rest
Then
on peaceful mornings
They
gather in the quiet corners
That
pepper the autumn landscape
Cast
like a threadbare cloak
Spread
by mother nature’s hand
And
in the misty morn
The
golden harvest
Lays
deep and undisturbed
Like
collected thoughts
In
the corners of my mind
The
watery sun slowly burns away the mist
And
illuminates the October landscape
Before
the wind disturbs the peace
And
chases the leaves away
Scattering
them like my dreams
As the evening light fades
The sky takes on a twilight hue
Until the stars appear above
And the moon comes into view
The fading light of the evening
Mirrors
the slow diminishing
Of
my own dwindling light
As
we both head towards the night
The Heathers cloak the hillside
And
Buttercups dot the meadow
The
Bluebells carpet the woods
And
Orchids pepper the hedgerow
In
an understatement of radiance
Where
the wild flowers grow
I walked along a hill top path
With
my old dog Jake
Beneath
a cloudless sky of azure blue
The
path led us into a sparsely wooden copse
Its
leafy canopy defused the strong sun
And
provided welcome shade
I
decided to rest a while in the cool shadows
I
slipped off my back pack
And
sat against a trees trunk
I
wiped the sweat from my brow
Before
taking a bottle from my pack
I
poured water into a bowl for Jake
And
took a generous swallow for myself
Then
I lit my pipe and relaxed
In
an aromatic cloud and enjoyed the scene
Specks
of sunlight dappled the ground
And
midges danced around the sunbeams
As
Jake chased the shadows
The
time came to move along
And
we followed the path back into the sun
And
onward along the ridge
After
a long slow crawl up the ever steepening path
We
reached the summit and were duly rewarded
To
see the countryside stretching far to the south
Spread
like a great patchwork quilt
This
perfect view from the Surrey hills
