Autumn Poetry in Motion

It’s a busy time on the rivertops as autumn starts to spice the water, land and air with coolness, longer nights and general decay. Birds become more active with migration urges, wildflowers thicken the high grassy fields and roadways, trout begin to shed their summertime lethargy and start to feed with more enthusiasm. I’ve attended numerous poetry events lately and hit the brook trout streams more readily than in summer. I’ve retired (or accidently broken) a few old fly rods but recently acquired an unusual little fiberglass wand that’s rapidly become a favorite. And my neighbor and fishing partner, Dave, loaned me a trail cam to install on my back acreage. A first viewing of the wildlife action at the site proved to be of interest.

hmm what is that thing… edible?

red fox says I’M GONE

fishin’ pal Bob S. hauls us up a little feeder stream at Hammersley

A poem that I included in my non-fiction book called Learning the Terrain is called “Cardinal Flower,” the subject of which is going off the bloom now (photo wildtoledo.org) but is seldom far from my September thoughts:

Native lobelia

scarlet robed

flares

above the muskrat’s wake.

Trout rise for a small emergent mayfly–

the heron’s eye

notes a wavering

white-striped fin.

Blossoms stir

along the stalks–

small red birds

lift their wings…

A shadow falls

across the riffles.

poetic wild asters