October 1982

Autumn Ride

Like shadow thoughts in my mind

Forms roll out of the mist

Trees at the roadside

Skeletons at first

Then filling out

As we pass

And drive on

To a hill that ends in the clouds

Goes on beneath

To rise again

And displays the sun

Behind a shroud

Of delicate lace

That wisps away

In the morning breeze

Treetops like shrubs

On the sky's carpet

(A lagoon

Around the hill-island)

Poked through

To see what lies above

The silver band

Shuttle birds

In a magnificent loom

Dart in and out

Sewing earth to sky

With free sung song

And rapturous flight

The wind shifts

The island sinks

We go on

Beneath the thinning veil

Lost in wonder

Speechless at the sight

Of a crayon-box-full of colour

Spreading like good news

Across a sun dappled

Tree quilted

Hill

And its flock

Upon which a child

Went wild

And forgot the lines

And did it all

(A patch here

A dab there

Leave that alone)

The same

Different

A picture stored in the mind

Along with others

(Grandma's apple pie

With ice-cream

A sand-castled beach

A reunion with friends)

Laid aside

As we go on

Down a grass grown lane-way

Tunnelling through trees

Past a fair

In its restful madness

To a home

Where a repast awaits

Fit for a king

Or a just home traveler

From an autumn ride