Where Maples Flame

"I will return in autumn," so I said,
"To see these greening maples crown this hill
With a flaming lei." But always when the chill
Fall days returned as time too swiftly sped,
I was not free so I could not fulfill
The vow I made. My heart in mute lament
Longed for wind-music, wild and eloquent,
While echelons of geese displayed their skill.

I could not be denied the joy-ascent
To my bright hilltop when the autumn came.
My spirit, country-bred, I could not tame
To city confines yet I know content;
For though the autumn calls me still the same,
My heart has built a hill where maples flame.

Autumn Song

Harvest moon,
Fulfillment's rune--
Gold chimes of aspens ring!

Scarlet now
The sumac bough;
Plowed fields, gull-blossoming ...

Farewell tones
Of geese-trombones ...
A whisper, "Wait for spring!"

This Is Mine to Hold

There will be other autumns with their singing
When beauty spreads through valleys like a flame
And crystal mirrors wear a scarlet frame
Where wild ducks preen. Again will come the ringing
Of bells of silver aspens turned to gold;
When gilded birches flaunt their twirling splendor
Beside the Midas-willows, then surrender
October's crown to sumacs, pert and bold;
When locust-purses open and are flinging
Their burnished coins for earth again to claim--
There will be other autumns, but Time's Vendor
May give no more than this as mine to hold.

Autumn Reflections

Splendor flames when day is nearly done,

Twilight's anthem is an orison

With the song of youth

Clear-intoned within its melody--

Autumn hours fulfill June's prophecy

With their garnered truth.

First in MFCP Roll Call Poems, Oct. 1953

Lingering Mystery

Gay is the laughter of autumn advancing

Through moon-shadowed valleys where killdeer are calling.

Scarlet are sandals of gypsy feet dancing

Through byways of beauty with Midas-gold falling.

Through moon-shadowed valleys where killdeer are calling,

Oh, where is my love to follow and woo me?

Through byways of beauty with Midas-gold falling

Only the echo of dreams will pursue me.

Oh, where is my love to follow and woo me

By moon-rippled water, and aspen bells ringing?

Only the echo of dreams will pursue me,

The mystery lingers, the night is for singing.

By moon-rippled water, and aspen bells ringing

Scarlet are sandals of gypsy feet dancing--

The mystery lingers, the night is for singing--

Gay is the laughter of autumn advancing.

When Autumn Flames

I watch the autumn flame from bush to tree
And wish I were a child again as fleet
As the young doe, yet all regrets are sweet
For still I hold the springtime's ecstasy.
May each one find his autumn ripe with truth
To garner for his need before the frost,
Yet hold the singing April of his youth.

In the Still Voice of Autumn

Earth-tethers are fragile by moon-rippled water--
Contralto its music--In still melodies
Beauty is calling, "Oh, sing for me, daughter!"
The harp of the white birch is strummed by the breeze.

The harvest moon poised on the crest of the mountain--
Silent--composes a sonnet of night
Then dances to bathe in the scarlet rimmed fountain
With virgin star-maidens. I sing my delight!

With a song of fulfillment, I sail to an islet
To view my Bright Harvest beyond its far peaks.
With peace my companion and beauty my pilot
In the still voice of autumn Infinity speaks.