feeling the pulse of autumn
with all its arrhythmias
the heart seems to steady itself
around the red-leaf 
patterns of sumac

this day would be
nothing without
the golden musella*
armed with its brief poems
of raindrops and spider webs


*Also known as the Chinese
Dwarf Banana. 

Link to the Missouri Botanical Garden:

http://tinyurl.com/zgorwjj

the lights of the theater
adjusted for fall
I watch the silent film
of a snake crossing
the gravel road

the blare of fire alarms
inside the hospital
maybe now is not
a good time for
another cup of coffee

three blankets deep
into late september
the furnace stays off
until the crickets
stop singing

camouflaged
to blend into
its surroundings
a rain barrel painted
with fallen leaves

http://www.rainbarrelguide.com/

the fog slow to lift
from the marsh
I hold onto
my blurred photo
of a whooping crane

gift of the bonsai
I believe the pine
knows better than I do
what shape
its life should take

she got to be
so small with the details
you couldn't even see
the stitches she made
with her needle

in the low-sodium,
low-cholesterol diet
there's not much to look forward to
the refrigerator as quiet
as a burned-out light bulb