Fruits of Solitude Return to <Poems and Stuff>
Sun and shadow, cloud and sky;
In the clearing the spirits linger.
Wind moaning across the ridge;
Along the path, quick whisperings.
A slink of fox in the milky dawn,
Brown owl gliding through ocherous dusk,
A powdery moon rising over lichened trunks.
Drum of rain on the roof,
Chatter of sleet against the panes,
Snowflakes fleeing past the windows;
Beyond the railing, a frenzy of wind-whipped branches.
April, a mocker in the dogwoods, smiling, waving;
Frowzy August, soiled, sweaty, spent:
Sad-eyed and russet-sleeved November
Pausing at my stoop to lay an arm across my shoulders;
Ghost-shrouded February, frore-fingered, alien.
--------------These have remained with me.
Fred Collins, Savannah, Tennessee