Autumnal
Sonnet
Unbidden
autumn strews dunned-down gardens
With
tree-shed tatters of summer passing,
Grey-boned
boughs, by this rough undressing,
Are shrouded
in mantles of mist again.
Children,
armed with throwing sticks, set to then
To conquer
horse chestnuts, wrest the blessing
Of their
bristled fruit, and by amassing
Wins prove
the hardness of the seed within.
Fallen apples
perish beneath dense skies,
Wind snatched
from blustered branches, while dankness
Saturates the
chilled air. Encroaching night
Dulls this
fading view in age wearied eyes
Looking out
with quiet, resigned distress
At such
incremental loss of the light.
Dave
Alton
