Two Poems of Autumn

May these poems inspire hope rather than melancholy as our seasons in the northern hemisphere change into a time of rest and contemplation.

Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash

This poem was written decades ago when I lived in Santa Cruz, CA; thus the palm trees and persimmons. Such plants don't exist in the Great Basin north of Las Vegas. Persimmons need that first hard freeze to trigger their ripening process.

October

Palm fronds still flutter.
Pinions nestle with oak,
Walnut and pine.
Persimmon's fruit ripens
With a snap of frost.
Blooms have disappeared
But not verdance.
Only a slight autumn nip
Has bitten edges of leaves
With a rusty curl.
Fog lifts higher
Above a billowy sea 
With waves the color of slate.
Sun is gentler on the skin
But it lazes in its crossing,
Casting longer shadows,
Its color a pale memory of July.

photo by Jeff Cauhape

The autumn of life starts to peak over the edge of our awareness when we're about … oh … fifty-ish? At that age, I suddenly realized many of my career options had disappeared. Want ads became unintelligible as the world moved swiftly beyond my will to keep up. My body seemed to turn against me with flagging energy and stiff joints. I was more inclined to sit and ponder rather than march purposely up that hill. Thus the life change begins. A new point of view develops. Is it decline? Or is it life experiences coalescing into understanding and wisdom? Cronehood is not an ending. It's empowerment. There's no longer anyone a woman needs to impress.

Musings on an Autumn Afternoon

As autumn teases golden leaves to twist and fall,
one by one, our strengths and stories blow away
until we linger bare and brittle with the cold
and watch our possibilities go astray.

And though the tiny yellow bird still finds
her rest upon the naked gnarled trees,
she flutters off to seek a warmer place
to spend eternal summertime in peace.

And so it starts - this gradual decline, 
that first we notice with a sad regret;
but know we must surrender to its rhyme;
and seek a sheltered place not sullied yet.

Where weary minds meander through the maze
and sit, enchanted, in the garden's heart
our work is done and ease begets our days
we nod and know we somehow did our part.

If you enjoyed this post feel free to explore other poems, essays, and stories in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. I also love to read your comments, so please share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation. And if you wish to support my writings, please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s now only $50/year. Even better, I would appreciate it if you could share Ring Around the Basin with your friends. Thank you!

All my books, Paradise Ridge, When the Horses Come and Go, and Ghost in the Forest are currently available on Kindle. 

Ghost in the Forest, is also available in paperback for ten bucks. Paradise Ridge is out-of-print, but the Kindle version is re-edited and better quality. Hard copies of “When the Horses Come and Go” are gone unless that dusty box in the corner still has some.

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Book Review of Ghost in the Forest:

E.R. Flynn, Illustrator, Cartoonist, Storyteller and Creator of "Escape from Clowntown Comics" here on Substack.

"Ghost in The Forest" is a great read! Take note People. If you love stories about environmentalism and nature, its clash with urban mindsets, as well as personal transformation, this is the book for you!

"Ghost in The Forest" is a quick 126-page read. It's the story of Dori, a woman trapped in a mix of grief over parental loss and refusing to accept how her hometown and her friends have changed over the years. Because of this, Dori has become a recluse and a self-imposed misanthrope who finds more comfort amongst the hiking trails around her hometown of Morristown than in her dealings with the raw reality of other humans.

The book, in some ways, resembled Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” in that the story follows a protagonist's love of nature and angst about humans encroaching on it. In this case, it’s how Morristown is transforming into a mountain biking destination where cyclists run rampant on trails and nature.

However, a tragedy involving said mountain biking becomes a major pivot point for Dori, leading to a series of events that eventually bring about personal evolution and discovery.

If you're a nature lover, this book is a must-read. It beautifully portrays the clash between environmentalism and urban mindsets and the journey of personal transformation. The book's vivid descriptions of nature and the protagonist's love for it will surely intrigue you.

Paradise Ridge Review by western author D. B. Jackson:

If you draw circle roughly around an area that includes northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and southern Idaho, within that circle exists a culture and people who live a lifestyle largely untouched by modern values. These are the "buckaroos" and Basque characters author Sue Cauhape brings to life in her literary novel, "Paradise Ridge".

Leandro, the illegitimate seventh son of patriarch Xavier Arriaga and his mistress, Gisela, is at the center of this intriguing story that travels exceedingly successfully at both the personal level of the characters, as well as the compelling level where the story is told.

Cauhape writes in a literary style that reminds me of Annie Poulx. Paradise Ridge, on the surface, appears to be an upscale Western novel...once inside the pages, you will soon discover a potential classic waiting to be discovered.

I rated this book a 5...because that's all the stars there were.