Carpets of Brown Leaves

Carpets of brown leaves
Lie in the afternoon calm
Flecked by soft sunlight.









Silken milkweed seeds
Float under the blue mailbox
Straining to take off.

Their backs rimmed with sun
Three goats graze in the twilight;
One of them looks up.

Late afternoon sun
Filters through the light green leaves
And makes not a sound.










Lying on the ground
Curled desiccated brown leaf--
Its shadow is longer.









The bend of the road:
Blur of golden glowing leaves;
Tribute to the sun.

Flashes of sunlight
Illuminate the red leaves--
Shadows in shadows.

There's my old pooch friend
Sleeping near his empty house.
Oh! It's just a rock.






After all these years
Broken window in the house
Empty forever.









Black and white flutters
In the red berry bushes--
Chubby nervous birds.









Ghostly white berries
Sway against dark russet leaves--
Color paucity.