Photos by Rob MacDonald

Bittersweet


Through the window

to my backyard

I see leaves are releasing their grip,

dancing to the ground

in a senseless tumbling

of nonchalance,

and I might regret their passing,

but for the way it opens up the sky.


Solitary wispy clouds

scuttle across a November sky

a blue as pale as a teardrop,

and sunshine spotlights

the few remaining golden leaves

of oak and maple

yet clinging by their stems.



And not only the sky opens up,

but the trees themselves,

undressed, stand like

wrought iron sculptures in bas relief,

revealing themselves as haven to

trapeze artist squirrels

flying limb to limb,

and tiny birds’ nests

vacant since the spring.


The leaves upon the ground,

are lovely still

with multi-colored hues of brown

that splash a canvas of green grass.

When will they be chewed to mulch

between sharpened blades

or buried

under a pre-Thanksgiving snowstorm?



A day ago while walking in the woods,

I coveted the autumn color on a bush,

and cut the branches filled

with berries, crimson, copper, gold.

And placed the vines

in a sapphire blue pitcher

that sits on my windowsill.

Bittersweet.

I love her name.

Her willingness to speak the truth.

“With every birth, comes some new grief.

With every death comes some delight.”


Kathy MacDonald

November 16, 2009


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Man Made

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AMCSEM

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