The bushes are bare
Save for strings of red berries;
Bird rustles inside.

A tiny white moth
Flickering across the road
Follows its shadow.

A child's blue knit cap
Lies on top of the dry leaves.
Where is its owner?

The sun strokes my face;
A lone crow chortles sharply;
Lazy brown leaves lie.

Old Marlboro case;
Soggy beer bottle carton.
Humans trash the woods.

Sun is cold today;
Wind rushes in empty woods.
Ouch! My big toe hurts.

Green ribbon is waving
Hanging from the bare tree branch.
Damn! It's cold out!

Crisp autumn morning;
Broccoli trees face the sky;
Crow barks far away.

Chickens cluck and peck;
Their world is the barnyard ground.
They don't see the clouds.

Geese in a gray sky:
They honk unseen through the clouds.
Wood smoke tangs the air.

Like fragile broccoli
The stripped trees reach to the sky.
Maybe they're praying.

Sniffing the dead leaves
The old black Lab ignores me
Pisses on a sign.

The woods are brown now,
Leaf blankets cover the floor
Snuggled from the snow.

Swish of jeep and van.
The air is filled with gas smell,
Then all is silent.

I check the dead leaves.
Will I find my long last pen?
Hope springs eternal.

The strong post light.
It switches on at nightfall,
Deceived by gray day.

Small white mushroom steps
Climb the standing dead tree trunk.
Soon they'll be yellow.

Soft green mullein plant
Sits among the dead brown leaves
Opening its arms.

Shiny snake of tar
Slithers down the road's center
And joins its fellows.

Slices of sunlight
Cut patterns on the brown leaves
The trees stand so still.

Pine cones on the ground
Lie in beds of brown needles.
Soon, winter's slumber.

Tiny puffs of smoke
Push out of the gray chimney:
The scent of autumn.

Warm breeze even now
With the stark trees and dead leaves.
Seasons overlap.