Tuesday poem: A limited number of autumns

March 28, 2017

A limited number of autumns
mulched, or tumbled in a barrel,
spread thin, or just allowed to fall.
The angry man with the blower.
The desperate, toothy rake,
plied like a weapon to hold back
swarming leaves of dragon red.
Carpeting drive and inscribing soil —
the pointed, scarlet letters
of a limited number of autumns.

PS Cottier

leaves and cicada

I belong to the ‘let it fall where it will’ school of gardening, which must frustrate those with gardens that look like they were bought from Ikea and assembled with an Allen key.  There are many introduced species of trees in Canberra, which provide people with the ideal way of expressing their personalities as they battle the leaves.  Or not.

2 Responses to “Tuesday poem: A limited number of autumns”

  1. Rosemary Nissen-Wade said

    Gorgeous words. (I am no gardener myself … but up here in the sub-tropics autumn leaves are a rarity.)

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