Season’s Gems
Drizzly remnants of hurricanes
stretching like big beads on a necklace
across the Atlantic
chased summer away a day early.
I resent Autumn’s untimely arrival,
robbing itself of its own magnificence.
No more floating in Lake Chatuge,
face up, absorbing white hot aura,
splashing liquid diamonds
over my tanned skin and sapphire suit.
Reluctantly, I shut windows,
don wool socks and fuzzy sweater.
Still cold, I curl under ruby colored throw,
unsuccessfully attempt happiness
by thinking of Christmas.
Gloomy rain and gray thoughts for days prevail,
but, at the end,
golden, topaz rays of sunset
sparkle across my yard,
where dogwood’s leaves turned garnet,
red berried, glowing in crystal cool air.
Autumn’s glory is here.
--Linda M. Smith
Previously published in Freeing Jonah V
