Fruits of Solitude

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