Dark Shadows in the Trees

Grackles

Black shadows in the oak trees

Feathered lumps beneath russet leaves,

Do I really see you there

Or is my mind playing games?

Like dark thoughts in corners—will you stay,

Or fly away?

~kathie adams brown (November 3, 2014)

The Chimney Swifts are Gone

The chimney swifts are gone,

and they took their cheerful voices,

Instead,

I hear cicadas whine

With a sound that spells the end,

The sky is faded blue

By the blazing summer sun,

Maple leaves are tinged with red,

The first hint of the coming Fall,

The scent of new mown hay

Lies heavy in humid air,

It is the end of summer,

--the waning days of summer,

--I’ll say good-bye to summer,

Until it comes next year.

~Kathie Adams Brown (August 27, 2014)

November Days

These are November Days,

Gray skies, unsettled weather, unsettled memories.

November skies are filled with longing,

longing for another place,

for the lost past,

for families and for love.

I feel that longing like a skein of wild geese honking out their cries

as they wing across the skies.

I feel that restlessness

Inside

and wonder where my wings are

and why I cannot fly.

The memories of passing years float up like clouds from the deep,

and I remember laughter, and a warm kitchen and standing with my Nana

While she stirred white pepper into smooth brown gravy in her farm kitchen

at Thanksgiving Time.

November days are wild days of longing and families and love.

~kathie adams brown (November 27, 2013)

In the Desert Now

I am in the desert now,

In the soft low light of October,

But every now and then

I catch a glimpse of autumn color,

The remembered rainbow

Of the forest’s last fling,

And I think I hear the sweet autumn song

Of the white-throated sparrow,

Or the crunching of dried leaves beneath my feet.

Is that the scent of apples carried on the wind?

Can I really smell the memory of  

The first wood fire on the hearth?

But these are gossamer threads

Pulling me back to a place I have left behind.

I am in the desert now

Learning new rhythms to life and seasons,

I am learning new scents and sights and sounds,

The kestrel calls to me, the thrasher and the phainopepla,

It is the Say’s phoebe whose voice I hear at dawn.

I am learning a new melody,

Soon I will sing the desert’s song.

~Kathie Adams Brown (October 24, 2012)

Autumn in the Oaks Woods

There is a softness in the woods in autumn,
A stillness on a calm day
When leaves drift downwards
and pine needles tumble
and the air is pungent with dirt and dampness.
It is then that moss grows thick like velvet
on tree trunks, rocks and ground,
when the rust littered forest floor
crackles where you step.
Yes, there is a softness
a gentle good-bye to summer,
and a hush before winter begins.

~Kathie Adams Brown (11-10-11)

Grackles

Grackles,
falling like a plague on my feeders,
feeding like locusts in a  frenzy,
black leaves in autumn--here,
and then gone
Migration.

~Kathie Adams Brown

When Autumn was Delayed

I am ready for Autumn but,
it has been delayed,
after a brief tease of
cool nights
and crisp days
with the smoke of a wood fire
lingering in the night air
the sultry gray days of summer have returned
with mugginess, humidity, and mosquitoes
slugs slide across the lawn
a few gold tinted leave flutter to the damp ground
but everything hangs in this thick, soupy air
Waiting.

~Kathie Adams Brown (September 25, 2011)

I Know What is Coming

The Summer Grasses are starting to fade,
Daylight is slipping away,
I see the hint of color in the leaves,
and I know what is coming.
As blackbirds gather into flocks by the thousands
preparing to become a black ribbon in the blue sky
I feel the coming dormancy,
the future leaf drop,
the coming snow.
I feel the darkness coming,
and the dread.
I know what is coming...

~Kathie Adams Brown (August 20, 2011)

A Walk on a Rainy Autumn Night in New England

Wet leaves plastered to sleek shining pavement

Yellow light splashing a golden path

Moist-earthy-leaf smell wafting around me

While dark shadows dance in the nearby woods

I hear the steady hum of traffic out on the street

As I walk through the night

I keep following my feet.

~Kathie Adams Brown (October 27, 2010)

I Got Lost in my Day Today

I got lost in my day today
amidst rain drops
and grackles on the lawn,
and phone calls
and chats with friends,
then the landlord came by
and fixed a broken light
while I warmed beef stew for lunch
on the old gas stove.

I looked at the bright orange carrots
floating in the steamy broth
with potatoes and bits of beef
before gobbling it all down
warm in my belly
a defense against this cold wet day.

It is autumn here
and the rusty leaves are falling
thick as rain drops
and the chickadees are calling
outside my window
and suddenly night has fallen
and I wonder where the day went-

A day full of details tiny and sweet
Added together they fill the space
Between rising
and falling asleep.

~Kathie Adams Brown (October 27, 2010)

September Pond

The silence of a September pond
rippling like molten lead,
cool as an autumn breeze,
embraced by trees,
velvety evergreens,
yellow-coined birches, alder, oak,
red-spangled maples,
reflected in still waters
where
a lone water lily
a white flame on a wet lily-pad floor
opens to the rain,
silver droplets falling to its center,
opening its heart,
opening my heart
to receive this autumn day,
this stormy silence.

~Kathiesbirds (September 28, 2010 Babcock Pond, Colchester, CT)

September Ocean

It has been so long since waves
have pounded their sweet song in my ears,
since sea gulls have gathered in the sky or on the sand,
since sea shells have collected beneath my feet.
White foam reaches for my soles
I giggle at the feel of salty wetness caressing my toes,
clouds of gray-steel-blue crumple overhead
with curtains of light streaming through.
The beach is vacant save for those few
who treasure this autumn ocean mood,
this solitude, this ocean song
that dances through my being once again.

~kathie adams brown 9-17-10

Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper 10-11-09 by Kathiesbirds

graphite and prisma color on paper.

My talisman arrived in autumn
On cryptic wings
Clinging
To the rough bark of a pine
Creeping
Up the solid girth
On tiny feet
With curved beak
Probing
In dark crevices
For that juicy morsel
That food, that sustenance
To carry us through winter
A plain bird
A subtle thing
It brought me life
On cryptic wings.

~Kathie Adams Brown (10-11-09)

OSI Prompt: Talisman