October Tones

cold
finch on the feeder chupps
crow caws and calls to the black morn
joyousness replaced life ratchets on
October tunes a musty melody

shroud of grey lifts the Sun’s obliquest ray
gives way to yellow all along limp paths
leaves a-tatter cobweb shimmering
mirrors in each droplet sudden
gold

time turns a sloe movement berries red
hips and haws in awe of fruition
scarlet glow red hot pepper
perpetuates in nasturtium
flowers stuck with dead flies
sap sinks sickly yellow-green
seeds winter’s clock
wings spirals down the air
tumble where dank
earth lies crisp
a while dies
into the sod
the Sun’s last
shaft a death
blow

so slants the cobweb night
alive with frost
steel-hard the sword
moonlights
with silvered ice

such as ours may be
more distant
stars