Afternoon ember flare coddles forest
Nodule noses, from dark bark eyes sap drips
Naked soldiers, Summer’s subside promised
Farewell foliage, spun fairy floss gossip
News spew swept red runaway train carriage
Ridiculed witches watch fireworks astral
Rudimentary broom aircrafts encourage
Twilight wake creatures creep from log capsules
Twitching whiskers, dusk susurrate translate
Trampled damp mushrooms mulch to mildew fleece
Orange fungi full moon balloon inflate
Hot flight flame exhales exhausting release
Grey limb wind tortured troops groan, familiar
Guards gravely wait for Winter’s insignia
31st August
Written for Contest:
Whispers of Autumn
Sponsor: John Lawless
OLD BONES UNBROKEN
In my later years I’ve come to believe
Living long does not determine the depth of a life lived
As lives and love stem from a special nodule in a person’s heart
A connection established a long, long time ago
A time when we were tiny, small varmints, mammals
I find my old age creeping around me relentlessly
Wrapping me in loneliness in my hours of consternation
Seeking the youth I royally misspent with gusto
I had fun
Like any kid I wallowed in the gaiety of the day as long as I could
I played like a Banshee high on donkey dung
I played taking care I didn’t hurt myself much
Aged fossil bones are thankful when the body is respected in youth
Old bones seek happy as the old body seeks rest
Joyful old bones seek painless old muscles
Our old exhausted minds welcome less strain on our bodies
Like a nun who prays to the four winds
For safe passage through the hinterlands of painful oblivion
Old age welcomes the body when it escapes broken bones.
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