Autumn Sense (10/7/89)

Yellowed leaves shook free
Chase the birds across the sky,
Chill and blustery winds
Push the sun into the clouds.
From some place up high
Among the shivering trees
The crow calls its mate
With a cold and piercing cry.
Locked in the basement
A dog clatters up the stairs,
Scratches at the door
And starts howling plaintively.

These sights and sounds
Mingle with the odor
Of burning leaves
And as I breath deeply
The sweet smell of decay
I hear ships docking and departing
And taste heavy distillery air,
Sounds and smells from childhood.
Between then and now
Winds the thread of days
Filled with dreams and drudgery,
Union and separation,
Endless shiftings of a life
Whose light and shadow
Trickle out in slender lines
Onto pieces of paper.