NOVEMBER REVISITED

Today’s array
of browns and grays
rouses memories
of teenage hunting days -- 
a few pheasants in the weeds,
but mostly cottontails
darting through the brush.
And all the while my buddies and I
harbored dreams of
something WILD.

Above in V’s
ducks and geese took their November leaves --
to exchange icing ponds and chilling air
for exotic who-knows-wheres.
They traveled fast
they traveled high,
like hell-bent SSTs.
We could but stare --
their reach, so far beyond our ken
or youthful hunting expertise.

But any day that we were there,
eager for what came our way,
trophies were bagged,
dragged home and magnified
in the stories we shaped
and would recall.

November, the perfect loom
to weave warp against woof,

imagination and a zest for living,
against autumns coarser fibers.


DRK
6/11/10

 

 NOVEMBER BETWEEN

                                                          

Spring drama and summer booty, now cached,

once again Mother Nature changes hats

and Gaudy October yields

to muted November’s aging fields.

Their many shades of browns and grays

underscore our shortening days.

At the fence, long rows

of brown corn stubble lead

to a spray of empty trees.

         Fans framing space

with limbs,

once lost in summer’s earnest greenery,                  

now, chilled,

reveal the interstitial beauty

of their gray twigged filigree.

Come inside.

Let’s toast nature’s annual evening time;

         Let fall your leaves,

         and sag your sap.

Enjoy Mother Nature’s windy music in the cracks.

We’ll light her logs and pour her wine.

Anticipate.

         She’ll soon unpack

         her stunning winter wardrobe wrap.                        

Dennis R. Keefe

November, 2008

 

LIGHTING VETERANS’ DAY

Our oldest light,

long in dim,

leaped,

recharged,

         Our star shooting through the night,

on veterans’ day

         to a site

         unknowable

         but boldly measured.

“Woke up this mornin’ with my Lord

Hang on, Jesus”

– her Lord of the living and now living with  the Lord –

“Woke up this mornin’ with my Lord . . . “

. . . in that lovely dwelling place

where the Son,

withholding no favors

bestows honor

on mothers
among others.

Another light to magnify the Lord.

Another light illuminating ancient words

that bookmark our lives.                                                                     

Inside, we greet,

view what’s left

and ponder the rest.

Outside, in the night,

Christmas parade lights form,

and stretch the street

back up the hill –

glowing lights

blinking, milling,

building

momentum –

some running mini laps

around girl scouts’ caps                                                                                             

then,

illuminating our holiday choices,

move away

         trailing

                  their

                           effects

                                             through

                                                               town.

Christmas will have its due.

Dennis R. Keefe

Oct. 29, 2019

November 17, 2007

 

PEACHTREE

It's time to acknowledge the end of the show
The last yellow leaves
On our backyard birch
Flutter in the cold
Hanging on for dear life and
Their one chance
To experience snow

Autumn began with my favorite tree
A maple, but to me, a peach
Not the one you stand beneath
But the one you strain to reach
Young, light green with fuzz
And a tinge of red

A tinge that used to lead the way

My autumn omen 
For an evolving color blast

New every year

But not this time

A summer storm wrenched that tree

Not even a stump remains

Its early coloring, a sign it seems
Of disease

Across the street

Favorite number two

Taller

With a magnificent spray of orange

which segue's to black branches
And dead dangling leaves
To spook Halloween

The usual progression did occur

A hard freeze whooshed us through
Brilliant reds

And gorgeous oranges and yellows

On the trees 

 

And underneath for a day or two

Then, browned, piled and kicked around

They traveled with the wind from yard to yard

DRK

11/9/19

 HALLOWEEN, 2015

In two hours the magic disappears
Final chance, kids -- decide and make it good
How best to treat the ‘hood
Six to eight p.m. — until next year

Two hours of
Mom and dad, toddlers in tow
Not sure who
But recognize candy being shared

Grade-schoolers on their own
Kid time, peak time
Imagine that!  Imagine this!
It doesn’t get any better than
Bats!  And mischief!

Older ‘tweens chauffeured in, on the make
Know precisely why and how
A science to them
Reports will follow

Two hours and Halloween’s oddities
. . . In the way
But the holiday season is still young

Anticipating turkey fun

Boo!  Y’hear?

DRK
11/3/19

 

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?

HALLOWEEN, 2022

 

The big buzz, early

Neighborhood kids, the littlest ones, parents in tow

Seem to know

It's special

Costumes 

Treats

And adult reactions 

 

Fun

Serious fun

 

We don’t neighbor enough  

Sure, their lives, busy  

But now at my front door

 

Night of opportunity

Encourage the magic 

Kids visiting a different world

Ask each one about theirs

Stretched kids' imaginations

            When did I stop exercising mine?

 

All Hallows Eve, thanks for the opportunity

Lighting pumpkins

Lighting anything, doing whatever

To add some magic

 

Eventually, too dark

Even for spooks

 

Look, leftovers

A Kit Kat bar, a Rice Krispies treat

Skittles and chocolate covered mints

 

Damn, it was fun

 

October 31

DRK

 

WE CALL IT FALL

 

From our porch’s three seasons venue

The usual autumn views

But Erato prods

What’s new?

Wind rifling our trees

Being neighborly with our colors

The gravity of this situation

Does make me wonder

Is this why we call it “fall?”

 

Up the hill

Sunlight highlights the kill

Tall trees' rotting leaves

Obit

A color blast to remember

The end of October

And early November

 

Many songbirds will disappear

They sensed what looms

And will, as snowbirds do, warm their cheer

 

We do welcome

The hardy juncos

And other up-north visitors

With heated water

And stable food supplies

 

Their winter presence

We celebrate

 

With one caveat

Mr. and Mrs. Mouse

It can be dangerous

Inside our house

 

DRK

10/4/23