Dark grey first autumn breath a bone chill hint,
summer’s sun- rash boom absconds on trailing glint,
luscious terrain brazen in hue’d rose cheek,
hazy mountain slope a sombre damp peak,
tint and tapestry awakened brisk fall gasp,
dapper drift net shades spawned to grasp,
pigment in meadow mould a gold rim beige,
tone shift bold red, earth brown, copper rage,
sweet gum tree orange, purplish fervent die,
to sniff katsura pink tree, charred candy sigh,
hail harvest bountiful, heart rippling feast,
red fire ablaze, hungry tongue wild yeast
beetroot, turnip, parsnip, root crops galore,
“Falls” raw lungs whiff hearty soup of yore,
yet honey-tinged morn, fleet of foot pause,
fades as cold plummet primes its icy claws,
green copse shrunk, drab moon weepy tune,
woodsy wren hoarding food in mournful croon.
mud squelch booth on path, smog purged lair,
wet moss splurge rinses pollen, season gulps air
Spring green decorates the hills
Down in the hollow where the creek flows
Wild azaleas and mountain laurel appeal
As spring a masterpiece gently shows
Once I was in my spring of life
Born, grew, developed, lived, love flowed
Years passed into summer being a wife
Then fall came, how my life slowed
Those autumn leaves swiftly fell flowing down
Their beautiful colors slowly turned into gold
Then so many shades and colors of trees' crown
What a story their descent to earth told
Bare skeletal oaks, poplar, sweet gum and dogwood
Each shape decorated the drab countryside
A longing once again for spring to come if it would
But alas the last spring has come, and can no longer abide
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree – Emily Brontë
Blow wind blow
blow through rustic leaves
a few fall
a carpet
as maple, sweet gum, and oaks
cover the woods path.
The sweet hush
we traverse the path
take my hand
icy way
idyllic panorama
cottages galore.
Smoke swirled up
the smell of coffee
outside leaves
twirled in red
our eyes found fine ecstasy
Fall increase our love.
Placed 1
Mountains, and forest, but wetlands, favored,
but what do they know, they're just their pinups.
The whole South to Arizona's, bordered ...
trees and boulders serve their choice of hole-ups.
Cracker Butterflies, wings flapping sounds named,
be protecting domains or mating calls.
Speckled species ruse camouflaged proclaimed,
hangout mid-afternoon, ... plus, if rainfalls.
Twenty of their kind, perched heights notes which kind.
Birds are the death of them, ... Jacamars, lead,
--shared realms. Defense-like poison is defined
as pointless, hence, disguised tactics succeed.
Diet: fruit rot, dung, and tree sap-sweet gum.
Placement perched will measure the life of them.
Dawn
awakes
bright cities
deep moonlit snooze
when autumn pageant’s
covert vanishing trail
exits on the sly behind
a stoic gem plinth while cheerful
denizens asses black grain pepper
clouds afloat as dark cobalt skylines watch
Gust
chill noon
might sense its
life hub platform
shiver between months
October curtain may
droop o’er high-speed dream chaser
without some red orb scintilla
or the faraway treasure trove break
from taut humdrum routine office zeitgeist
Oak
and ash
or cherry
trees in the shade
adding splashes of
colour to town verges
between day long transitions
kaleidoscope on sweet gum hue
orange, red, burgundy foliage
caress tired eyes of street inhabitants
Light
swaying
lantern’s arc
cast magic tints
at high jinx urban
throngs inside and those who
loiter on the coffee dock
margins awestruck by picture perfect
fall where countryside meets asphalt sprawl hub
I took my last fall ride
Down the road
Where we could see egg yolks beaten with milk
Splattered upon the sweet gum, silver birch and hickory
Fall's angular sunlight at just the right time of day
Bringing to life those divine colors
Almost hurting my eyes with the brilliance
And the awesome illumination sent from God
The hills came alive with color
Rust, yellow, gold, orange, pine green mixed with amber, and brown
Like spring's potatoes' skins which fall swiftly
Into the waste pail so we can have mashed for lunch
Looking upward a vision of longing for design
The V of geese flying south
If we were to stop, turn off the engine
We could hear the honks of them longing for home
We could also see
Those geese break through a
Panting bulldog cloud then disappear
Above fall's glorious color as we pass it by
A short trip where we stop only once to purchase
Apples, apple cider
Then aroma surrounds us tempting our tastebuds
At home, warm caramel and fresh apples for dessert
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
Contest: Fall Flavors
Date Written: 9/12/2022
Theme: Taking A Fall Drive
Death Of A Sweet Gum
Miracle Man
3/14/2022
Leaves cascading as if indiscriminately lost,
casualties of nature and multiple nights frost.
Once a coat of many colors on our Sweet Gum Tree,
they’ve quickly become just more yard debris.
Leaving exposed, a tree with prickly brown balls,
that will winter as ugly until the last one falls.
This yearly problem no more sticks in my craw,
my light bulb moment was my Stihl chain saw.
Varoom, varoom, varoom.
October Spice
Inspired October creates a recipe
For a sumptuous feast
A bouquet garni of paprika hued orange tupelo,
A fete of fragrant cinnamon shades in russet umber oaks,
Sprinkling tinges of savory gold in dancing ginger aspens
Then blending bits of sienna nutmeg tones to hickory,
Glazing scarlet cardamom frost on the sugar maple,
In a festival of allspiced sweet gum mixed delicacies
A banquet fest spread out in pungent cloves of beech offerings
Autumnal master stirs up a feast of bonne bouche in sassafras tones
With a smidge of saffron dusting on sable sycamores
Tidbits of chestnut fripperies - dainty delights wearing star anise harvests -
Sachet d’Epices of magenta dyed coriander colors burning bushes burgundy
In measures reflecting eternal delight - a twirling potpourri of praise.
9-27-21
Contest: October
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
Thank you Jan for the inspiration!
As dark clouds gather in the sky
Down where the river narrows
And Sprewell Bluff's craggy rocks rise
Great blue heron has flown and the sparrow
The river speedily flows on by
Its color no more red
But back to its normal brownish green
Washing rocks on the river bed
The gnarled sweet gum still stands 'pon roots
No longer attached to land
Most of its leaves now have turned red
Which will fall on the current or sand
A warm fall day with high moisture
Just enough to be uncomfortable
Yet~somehow a good feeling formed
Even his talk my thoughts impenetrable
Liquidambar Styraciflua
(Sweet Gum Tree, the Sandbur of the Forest)
Written: by Tom Wright
10-25-2016
After each leaf has slowly surrendered its green
They take on the colors of a painter’s palette,
Some mimicking the sun while affixed to twigs,
Others with orange, copper and red hues;
A north wind is whispering,
As if to say, Your time is nearing.
Soon they’ll release their hold
To the order of nature, and cascade downward;
The next to descend will be those nettlesome fruit balls
Which left until mowing become launched as grenades,
And the Spring Itch which I must scratch;
They provide little shade, pollute our yard, oft infested by web worms,
And considered one of the ten most dangerous trees you can plant in your yard.
Yet their fall colors have preserved their existence in our yard.
Tom
sweet gum's base wrapped tight
tree's limbs loaded with round balls....
pond catches offsprings
Sweet gum
Three pronged leaves
Foot like, dancing in breeze
Hung upon the clothesline drips blood
Scarlet
.
the old grist mill leans
nestled in the rocky bank
red fall leaves surreal
The swift red stained creek that energized the mill's wheel still runs over ancient rocks on its course to the mighty sea. Its course unchanged for eons but the use
of its steady resources remain. The red leaves upon the trees surrounding the creek
will soon be spent.Their usefulness soon to be gone..
the red sweet gum leaves
fall twirling land 'pon hard rocks...
crayfish hide beneath
Small white water rapids gush over the stony bottom and tiny waterfalls continously rushing forth to the nearest river and then onward to the mighty ocean touching on all continents then coming home to rush forth once again..Rushing water that supports all life upon this good earth..The gushing water that supported the grist mill and the small community..The water is still there and the mill is still there but the people have deserted the once thriving way of life..
lapping water flows
as people flow far away...
bream wait spring to spawn
Sponsor: Broken Wings
Contest: Haibun
Written: September 21, 2013
A spindling sun stream on bough's cloak spun
Melange of orange, yellow, red on foliage doth billow
Decadent Umbrella wields fluorescent shield o'er barren
fields
Glinted blades colorful shades heighten
Bright-cherry, Oak leaf gloss doth floss
Purple haze of each Sweet Gum lobe doth tase
Yellow fringes on White Oak fingers waxes with gilding
syringe
Orange Marmalade, Maple stars varnished with tinseling
spade
Blue Beech crusted folds dusted with a brackish rust
Balmy summer air to southern climes doth repair
On horizon, blue azure panels shaded with smoky tincture
Silky, white fondue relpaced by pallid, silver hue
Fondling, summer breezes; gripping, autumnal wind freezes
Cooling waves react with fertile leaves; amber gown doth
retract
Nutrient-rich chlorophyll doth spill and sugary saps rill
Anon, doth ween a bright, colorful sheen
Golden crescents and cherry strobes with lobes iridescent
Rounded discs on Global Willow in creamy glaze mellow
Spiny-toothed, Red Oak leaves flossed with reddish-
green gloss
Sugar Maple stars bathed in a bright pumpkin lathe
Ovular Blue Beech blades are brushed with a brackish rust
Veins of Aspen heart umbrella bleed bright yellow
Pentagram lobes of Sweet Gum gilded with purple robes
After scintillating charade, garnished blades began to
fade
Leaves' life-giving juices the stout bough refuses
Nutritious store salvaging trunk doth score
The regal, shimmering gown now shriveling crown
A duller shade of brown on the crumpled folds redound
Last gasp, its withering anchor doth cast
Descending from mercurial splendor to mother natures
blender
August 21, 2012
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.