A Poem for October

This is a poem I wrote many years ago. I invented a couple of words for it so a purist might scoff. But it was how I felt at the time. And some of the leaves we pick up from the ground around here really do look like they're "leathered" and bare limbs seem "starkened."  

I hope it brings a fall day to mind for you and that October has a special place in your heart as it does mine. 

Moon Dance

By Susan Sundwall

October drapes her burnished skirt,

stirred by an errant breeze;

bends down to earth and offers thus

her crimson leathered leaves.

Too soon the crisping winter air

will bare the ancient bones

of starkened limbs that once were dressed

in vibrant greening tones.

And yet once more beneath the moon

all held within her trance,

my aching soul is touched for ‘tis

October’s dying dance.

Photo: a tree near our barn