CLINGING TO TODAY
Mid-October
mid-day sun
Cajoles me to
squint against her radiance,
A breeze I
can barely feel
Peels the
golden brown leaves
From their
grasping branches.
Ceremoniously
they process
To their
graduation,
Descending in
clearly defined groups--
Stripping the
splendid forest array
Softly into
grey.
I crunch a
firm crimson treat
With tongue
and teeth--
It bursts
with tart juice swimming
Along my grateful
taste buds.
The flavor
sings me a memory of decades
Dwelling in
days like this one to savor
Crunching raked
piles of glee
Under
stomping giddy feet.
Inside, a
fleece jacket waits its turn
To wrap me in
comfort,
Assured I won’t
neglect it much longer
As days get
shorter.
But this day
my naked arms accept
A few more
bronze freckles
Destined to
last till I wither
Unlike the crispy
brown specks
On route to
decay.
Yesterday’s
rain softened the mud;
Compressing the
scribbled-crayon carpet,
Tickling my
nostrils with a lasting perfume
I suction it
deep into lungs and retain it.
Black locust
saplings, bedecked in oval emeralds
Defy the
annual aging of elderly neighbors.
A dozen Phoenix
trees, as big as me
Sprung from
the seeded ashes
Of parents
toppled by fierce winds
This time
last year;
The orphans
mock the murderers
Who toppled
in terror
Ancestors quaking
their burial grounds
With great
drama before they succumbed to slumber.
Upon this
fertile earth
Which gave
them birth
The children
rose swiftly,
Like an army,
strong and plentiful
Climbing independently
Towards cerulean
skies.
As I sit,
crickets belt out solos;
Paired
cicadas do duets,
Their tune the
dirge of siblings laid to rest;
Redheaded woodpeckers
add percussion
Hammering beaks
for smaller relatives
Of the noisy procrastinators
avoiding naps.
I toss the
core of my Winesap sucked dry
Contributing
to the sweet stench of decay
Hoping the
soil will be as satisfied
With my
donation
As I linger
Still squinting
Ignoring chores
which will still be
Wanting to be
done
After I drink
in what remains
Of this impeccable
day.
SuzyOzone
10/24/12
