Monday, 31 July 2017

It's still summer but listen to the whisper of autumn on the other side of the hill...





Our Lady Autumnus

A vision of radiance is she, under the rage-red canopy,
her arms spread wide to embrace natures matricide.
Sparks fly from her golden crown in the fading sunlight 
dappling down, into amber eyes flecked with umber-brown.

Her laughter, a rich and rapturous sound, echoes through
forests, fields and towns; branches swirl and grasses sway,
leaves dance to her song before breaking away,
to join our lady in her moment, her day. 

Copper, bronze and gold adorn her flowing gown, 
enchanted is she who reaps the ground.
Her tresses fall in waves aflame to lick voluptuous hips, 
and kiss her bosom of milky-white, iridescent as the moon,
in the crackling bonfire light. 

Tangerine, claret and coffee leaves, rustle and tumble 
in the cool northern breeze, cascading from the trees 
they gather in her wake, a resplendent bridal train 
they make - as they rake - upturning her perfume; 

it ravishes the air in a synthesis of all she forebears:  
toadstool musk wafts from the wet soil’s must;
tart-sweet apples ferment in ruddy husks;
beds of pine burn as wood-smoke churns;

chestnuts, pumpkin and pecan pies, fruits, berries 
and spiced wines, indulgent cinnamon, nutmeg and 
clove, marinate with maple, elm and oak.

Our hostess of harvest lays down her shrine,
a woodland table, a banquet fresh from the vine.
A bouquet of poppies, the flower of her time,
sits reverent at the centre of her feast so sublime.

Her ambient splendour, her harmony, her life-time, 
she gives to us by omniscient design.
Nature’s ripe essence in her prime, she is 
incandescent, our dear lady Autumnus, divine. 

©Nichola Lovell  October 29, 2016

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