September 17, 2016

  • Looking for Circus Soleil

    Premature acrobats wind tumbled
    Gather against the foundation
    Anticipating additional performances
    I pause to observe
    They bunch and then scatter
    An explosive dispersion
    Suspended and twisting to execute
    Back flips and diving forward rolls
    Strictly for my personal amusement

    We are still a few days from the autumnal equinox marking the first day of Autumn. It is on September 22 this year. We had a very short spring and summer this time around. The tree leaves seem to have just gotten to maturity with the full deep green that I recognize as the pinnacle of summer. Already the leaves are dropping. They are not even turning colors before loosening their grasp on the twigs. The landscaping department on campus has deployed the raking crews to corral the early drop offs. It has been raining and the leaves have been running in the wind. The lighter weight leaves defy gravity and are swept into the little vortices of hot air they meet the cooler air in the storm front. I'm not often outside to witness the performances of the leaves. I had to walk across campus on Wednesday and was buffeted by the wind. I watched the loose leaves make tumbling runs across the quad and huddle up under the picnic tables. If only they were wearing a variety of colors instead of a dull green, I would have thought they were gymnasts competing in the Olympics!

Comments (14)

  • My spring and summer were almost non-existent this year, as I spent most days indoors in hospital or nursing home. Our leaves are falling too, but no pretty colors yet. I hope we'll have some color for my brother and sil to see. They arrive late Wed. and will stay until the following Wed. They're coming for our mom's 99th birthday.

    • It would be nice to have a really colorful fall to make up for the short spring/summer. It snowed in April this year so I feel like spring was really short! A happy birthday to your mom!!

  • Collection of leaves is not a huge priority here -- a few blow off trees occasionally, and they get picked up primarily by the regular street sweepers, whose responsibility is to keep pollutants from reaching the storm drains. This is a wonderful poem.

    • I'm so happy you liked this little poem! I have always lived in the midwest with our dramatic seasonal changes - I think I'd be disappointed in fall if it was merely a change in temp and precipitation...

  • I miss colorful New England autumns.

    • Indiana and Michigan can get very colorful too - we just don't have the mountains to showcase them as well. There is a certain spiritual thrill of walking beneath a maple tree aflame with fall colors and having the sun filter through the leaves like stained glass...

  • Love this word picture!

  • Love it.

  • I also defied gravity yesterday. Our seats couldn't have been any higher as we listened to Elphaba sing Defying Gravity.

    • It sounds spectacular even in the last row of the last balcony! Maybe Sparky and I will see it next time its in town...

  • We have oodles of acorns dropping from our oak tree already ~

    • My neighbors have several oaks and they swear the squirrels are purposely making them fall and aiming for their car! I'd commiserate except we have walnut trees and it is a bumper crop again this year... I'd trade for acorns!

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment