from verdant green
to flaming colors
no rainbow ever dreamed
but the trees dare

from flourishing fields
of growing grain
to shorn earth
of tawny stubble

the wheel turns
once more
the year
draws to a close
and the growing season
meets its maker

whirlwinds skitter
across the path
stirring more poignantly
whatever wistful nostalgia
might have blossomed
late before the frost

this perishing moment
too
is an eternity