We have a beautiful paperbark maple in the back yard. It is one of the last trees to green up in spring and to redden in the fall. We see it from our kitchen window. When it is in full color, it’s almost as if there is a glowing presence outside, looking in at us. It’s coming into its full beauty right now!
What is this light
that window-watches
with a molten glance
all the burnt-orange shades
of lingering Autumn’s dance?
That stains the cool
November afternoon
with pear-gold burnished joy
and flapping goose’s tune?
In windy rain the flakes
of sunlight falling fast.
Drink in this wine
before fall bloom is past!
© 2016 by Violet Nesdoly (All Rights Reserved)
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This poem is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Laura Salas at Writing the World for Kids.
Violet Nesdoly 
What a beautiful kitchen window sight. I love this line: pear-gold burnished joy.
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Thank you, Dori! It is so pretty right now. If only it lasted longer.
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Beautiful!!! Love it all but the 2nd stanza is my favorite. Lovely language!
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Thank you so much, Penny! Must use up all superlatives now, as autumn colours are fading (and falling) fast.
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It is intoxicating looking at the color leaves flying like butterflies. Love the poem!
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Thank you, Brenda. “Intoxicating” is a good word for the inspiration of autumn.
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I suspect all of us, at least those posting about autumn, are taking your wonderful advice, Violet: “Drink in this wine
before fall bloom is past!” I am! It’s been a wondrous autumn here, and I’m happy when everyone shares more from their own habitat!
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Thanks, Linda, and so has it been a “wondrous autumn” here. Have enjoyed it so much this year!
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Violet: Autumn is my favorite season, and you have expressed it beautifully in this poem. I like the image of staining the November air… and then the drinking of the wine. Lovely.
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Thank you, Karen! It seems like lots of us love autumn… and what’s not to love!
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We have had the rainiest October on record here in my part of the world (it rained 28 out of 31 days….), so I am living vicariously through stunning moments captured in photos and poems like yours!
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Thank you, Jane! Actually I live in the GVRD, so I know what you’re saying about rain. But in my ‘burb, it didn’t bleach the colors. Somehow this year they have been brighter than ever, and more long-lasting, perhaps because we haven’t had much wind. Hopefully we’ll have a sunnier November.
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Sun? What is this “sun” you speak of? I think I’ve forgotten what that means?
I’m being melodramatic, of course – we actually had sun yesterday afternoon, but a lifetime of rainy winters still hasn’t made me like them any more! 😉 I’ll just cling to photos and poems to remind me of warmer days… 😉
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“molten glance,” “pear-gold burnished joy,” and “the flakes of sunlight falling fast” — so much loveliness in your poem, Violet!
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Thanks so much, Tabatha… written under the influence of autumn wine. 😉
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Appreciations for this lingering late autumn greeting, in joyful image & words, Violet. And paperbark! I don’t know my varieties of maples so that’s a fabulous name to remember.
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Thank you, Jan! The paperbark maple was also new to me when we moved here and found this tree in our back yard (part of the townhouse landscaping). At first I thought it was an arbutus, but no, it only resembled the arbutus’s curling brown bark. I recognized maple when seeing the keys and leaf shape. There are paperbark oaks as well, There might be be other paperbark trees too.
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There is a japanese maple across the street from me that will take your breath away in the fall, so, I can relate to your poem and “drink in this wine.” Lovely.
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Thank you, Diane. Maples know how to put on a show, don’t they?
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Such wise advice! The townhome we moved into this summer has a glorious maple in the tiny front yard. I feel so lucky. It’s been a highlight of autumn. This is beautiful–my favorite line is “with pear-gold burnished joy.” Sigh.
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Thank you, Laura, and for hosting this week as well.
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My favorite, “drink in this wine before fall bloom is past”…makes me want to savor those moments! Thank you for sharing, Violet!
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Thank you so much, Keisha!
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Just beautiful – love the rich language, Violet…and that glorious view!
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Thanks, Tara, and for stopping by!
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I like the idea of drinking the wine of the fall colors!
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Thanks, Mary Lee, Sadly, we’re almost at the bottom of the glass here.
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So lovely – thank you! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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Thank you so much, Ruth!
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