October 2020

October is not all witches and goblins in my neck of the territory We are dashing about, preening our tails, storing nuts and berries Running around screeching and slapping each other The raccoons think we are crazy, but that identifies them actually October is not even October this year Something is amiss The children are not making leaf piles We have to go farther to get our nuts We know the cold weather is coming, Oddly, fear and angst parade in the air now What is happening? I ask the oaks. They have always been the knowers of these things Even the oaks are in the dark. Nothing is the same. The children are missing, hidden in houses. The yellow buses are not coming. Something is terribly wrong.