Friday, September 09, 2016

Poetry Friday: Fall, by Edward Hirsch


On Facebook yesterday, I posted this picture, a sampling from Atticus's garden, and I said: 

I'm not a gardener. But on a cool September morning, when I'm picking vegetables, feeling grateful for my husband's love of growing things...there's no place I'd rather be than in that garden.

The calendar may still call it summer, but the season is changing here. I'm reminded of Emily Dickinson (As imperceptibly as grief, the summer lapsed away) and Edward Hirsch knows it, too. 


Fall
by Edward Hirsch

Fall, falling, fallen. That's the way the season
Changes its tense in the long-haired maples
That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves
Redden on their branches (in a fiery competition
With the final remaining cardinals) and then
Begin to sidle and float through the air, at last
Settling into colorful layers carpeting the ground.
At twilight the light, too, is layered in the trees....

(Read the whole thing here, at The Writer's Almanac.)

~~~~~

11 comments:

Julie said...

Perfect choice of a poem for today, Karen - thanks for posting it. ("...summer's
Sprawling past and winter's hard revision" - isn't that wonderful?)

Tabatha said...

It's going to be 96 degrees here today and feel like over 100, so I am sooo looking forward to fall!
Nice harvest!

jama said...

What a beautiful poem! And Atticus's bounty -- wow!

Ramona said...

Oh, how I love this poem. I love that your post reminded me of it. Beautiful vegetables!

Mary Lee said...

Love this. Thank you!

Ruth said...

I enjoyed the photo earlier this week, and the poem now! Thanks.

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Wonderful poem. The "colorful weather moves" me, too.

Linda Mitchell said...

I adore the Fall, falling, fallen......what a perfect way to capture the feel of the changing season. Beautiful poem. Thank you for this. Have a great week. I wish you poems and thoughts of poems for your soul every day.

Karen Edmisten said...

So glad to share this one with you all!

Amy LV said...

"the way the season changes its tense..." So darn perfect. I adore this one. Thank you! And do I ever wish I could reach into the screen and sample a tomato. Beautiful! Happy sauce and salsa... xx

Karen Edmisten said...

I adore it, too, Amy. Wish I could share some of these tomatoes with you!