AUTUMNAL DELIGHTS
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leaf-covered sidewalks
pumpkins ready to harvest
gourds covered in frost
leaf dervishes w
h
i
r
l
vow autumns effervescence ~
conscious elements
AUTUMNAL BLISS
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autumn's winds, a playful caress
dissonant wind chimes dance in artful bliss
With gentle hushed whispers
autumn paints umber hues
dabbing silvery mist
ochre autumnal shades
embrace misty mornings
a grandeur of nature
Placed second
SOME KIND OF MISTY Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Nette Onclaud
Date: July 6, 2025
The season’s subtle winds bring change, from the skies
to the mountains, bearing an autumnal overcoat
boasting gold, orange, and scarlet, gradually
hushing to a dying chestnut brown.
Soon, the warming of spring will throw back its head,
laughing at crocuses and daffodils daring to
bloom above winter’s malingering snow.
The pulse of dawn captures me in its taciturn wake.
Above, the trees shed the last of their death and
blend in with the persistence of the evergreen.
I slowly bend and bleed with the horizon’s edge and
hold summer by the hand, laughing and
giving autumn a nod, knowing he’d be back
one day.
The trees dressed in their carnival clothes
Gold and scarlet of the autumn days
They play about the earthy hues
Of boughs and boles
Proud flag of any sky
I take in the freshly calm air
With that hint of an earthly aroma
The fragrance of homeliness
You once were connected
You had your place
As vibrant green
The sun did face
Now tumble down
The wind she shakes
As click you land
Connection breaks
So is it true
That life revolves?
The thing we were
Rotates, dissolves
We are transformed
A panoply
Of golden hints
Of what's to be
For in the cycle
Green to rust..
Faith in the natural
Ways we must
Be strong in love.
That nothing's lost
Deception
Is the only cost
Preserve belief
Beyond this schism
Faith in the beauty
Of nature's rhythm
Too much of reflection is mirrored at me
Too much of an echo returns
As I speak to you and it’s obviously
Not at all hard to discern
Should I rely on a change of the season?
Then it’s too much of bad weather
So might be too less of the conscious reason
That could have link it together
It’s not in my power to manage all this
Echoes, reflections, and rains
Grey autumnal days I’d be happy to miss
Too much of the sun I have gained.
Odour of autumn in the air
Summer silently flew away
Trees shed leaves soon will be bare
Seasonal change, beauty will not stay.
Last roses look weary on dying bush
Dandelion clocks wait to be blown
Herbaceous border not looking lush
Wander garden on my own.
Before long cold winter is here
Grey clouds daily, sun slipped away
Nature is silent quiet time of year
No way summer could possibly stay.
Wood smoke rises from chimney
Amber light filters through curtain
Those I love are safe inside with me
Spring will arrive of this I am certain.
Autumnal cinnamon scents the air
Tricking and treating, if you dare
Fancy costumes, ready to scare
Autumnal cinnamon scents the air
Children have bounties of sweets to share
Bobbing for apples and crafting a snare
Autumnal cinnamon scents the air
Tricking and treating, if you dare
Autumnal cinnamon scents the air
Fancy costumes, ready to scare
Children have bounties of sweets to share
Tricking and treating, if you dare
Bobbing for apples and crafting a snare
Assuring all ghosts that you just want to care
I am a maker of peace
Peace is the world I exhibit
An island of lawns and some trees
All imagined; its easy to leave it
I am a producer of joy
This job doesn’t need a great skill
Come to my house, be employed
You get no survey to fill
I am a stateman of love
You can offer a new constitution
One paragraph won’t be enough
I rely on some more contribution
But who are we, let me remember
Why don’t we exist anymore?
It was such a sunny September
I couldn’t imagine before
An autumnal summer of peace
And a summer of love, mixed together
If I wasn’t the maker of this
You can blame it all on the weather.
Disorder in symmetry, crack in the line
Distorted perspective, cubistic design
Sculptures in celluloid wrappings stand by
Amorphous stains on your hands - wonder why ?
Clean them away with the acetone drips
Mix a new color, paint some bright strips
Autumnal wind blew those images down
He is the author, and I'm just a clown.
After flaunting her wares and dazzling our eyes
Her energy ebbing ,motivation low
It should come to us as no surprise
That her colours fade to no linger glow
She does now sedately and sombrely dress
Though it still being in her nature to tease
With the whispering wind she conspires to impress
Her onlookers as she strips to please
This seasonally haunting dance of the seven veils
With her fluttering leaves of russet ,brown and gold
Amid the showers of which us she richly hails
Shows that she does not fear being so bold
Autumn even with her loss of lively chirping
Displays a beauty than summer no less gripping
Shimmering in a chilly mist,
skyscrapers overlooking NYC.
August left into September's cooler mornings,
schoolchildren dressed in plaid and Hush Puppies.
In Central Park the leaves are a green-yellow,
squirrels scurry to store acorns.
Pretzel vendors appear as joggers feel
relieved from humidity,
in autumnal New York.
Driving headed north,
Upstate farms yield cider,
and the Catskills and Adirondack mountains
are banners of emerging colors.
Deer gather from the edge of the woodland
to drink from a pond as the fading moon sails,
in autumnal New York.
Years ago my siblings and I in our Long Island
suburban yard,
leapt into golden and red maple leaf piles,
and ate candy apples-
How much simpler and joyful our lives
were then,
in autumnal New York,
I wish I were still in,
autumnal New York. ~
It burns its way out of wood
resembling a fiery rose,
and penetrates the gloom
with gleams and bloom.
It murmurs ceaselessly,
its breath an autumnal aroma,
with the finesse of melancholic nostalgia.
It contemplates constellations,
its eyes a myriad of reflective lanterns.
It rises and rises gallantly
like a summoned Phoenix,
sparkles and sways,
as if in delirium.
Its blaze
an avalanche of petals,
the color of sunset,
the perfume of ethereal catharsis.
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