Autumn by Caroline Johnson - Your Daily Poem

Autumn
by
Caroline Johnson

Standing in a river of fire,

swept in a swirl of swollen maples

now breathing in October’s late

afternoon fashion show

like a lazy city tramp who has

lost his way and is

rustling in the leaves,

touching wicker bark and

wet, dark branches

like an operetta symposium,

it sings to us,

in shocking silence of golds, burgundies

with flames that leap towards quiet stillness.

Mauves and hydrangeas

and paint-by-number canvass

with soft brushstrokes someone has

fingerprinted happiness

and scattered the dreams of sunflowers

across Van Gogh’s sky, leaving

lime green speckled bushes, baby pine,

dead logs, and deer that stop for the moment.

“You see this tree here?” he said.

“When we come back here again, it won’t be the same.”

This poem appeared previously in Where the Street Ends and Distilled Lives (2010).
Used here with the author’s permission.

Caroline Johnson has published two poetry chapbooks, Where the Street Ends, and My Mother's Artwork. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a newspaper journalist for five years. She also spent a year in Hungary and taught English as a second language before earning her M.A. in English Education from the University of Chicago. Caroline currently teaches English at two community colleges in the Chicago area, and serves as president of Poets and Patrons of Chicago. See her blog at http://jupiter-caroline.blogspot.com.

vscholtz:
âWhen we come back here again, it wonât be the same.â But what beautiful memories we can have thanks to your poem.
Posted 10/24/2012 06:23 PM

CamilleBalla:
You have painted the scene on the drive to and from Upper Michigan in the Fall. We made that trip for several years so your words have made me see it once again. I especially like "swept in a swirl of swollen maples...", "flames that leap..." and "lime green speckled bushes...." Camille
Posted 10/24/2012 03:26 PM

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