Two Autumn Poems

Autumn Poem of Innocence

Goldenrod laughs in the wind

Tosses back its yellow hair

Flame-colored maple

Leaves dancing in the wind

Swirl and bow and swirl again

Cloudless blue sky

Bright autumn sun

Cheery pumpkins grace our doorsteps

Cornears unfurl colorful seeds

 

Photo by Nicole Gordine, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Eastern Grey Squirrel, photo by BirdPhotos.com, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Autumn Poem of Experience

Soon bright pumpkins squirrels will ravage

Corn kernels scatter

Bare cobs leave

Broken rinds

Remains of furry ones’ feast.

(Squirrels disdain to do their dishes)

Rain squalls pound goldenrods’ hair

Branches hurl

Trees uproot.

Will the Monarch grace us?

Or is its beauty vanished,

Vanquished,

Bleared, smeared by human greed?

Yet the seasons cycle on

Dead leaves go to the compost bin

Life begins anew

I want to thank fellow blogger Jeff (StuffJeffReads) for keeping William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in the forefront of my mind this past year. Once I realized the dichotomy of innocence/experience was the perfect way to organize the two initial images—the goldenrod and the Monarch butterfly—the rest of the poetic diptych soon fell into place. “Bleared, smeared” obviously echoes Gerard Manley Hopkin’s line in “God’s Grandeur,” just as “Will the Monarch grace us?” echoes T.S. Eliot’s “Will the sunflower turn to us,” in “Burnt Norton.”

Filed under: Feasts/Seasons, Nature, Poetry Tagged: autumn, poems