In the deep fall...

Autumn in Maine

Good morning--how did it get to be Thursday already?  It's homecoming week at the University I work for, and it has been a stressful, hectic week.  I must admit that I'm looking forward to the weekend.  But in between sleeping too little and worrying too much about my unfinished tasks at work I can't help but enjoy the beautiful weather this week.  Poet Mary Oliver must have enjoyed the seasonal changes as well when she penned her lovely poem Song of Autumn.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Autumn in New Hampshire

Song for Autumn

by Mary Oliver

In the deep fall

    don't you imagine the leaves think how

comfortable it will be to touch

    the earth instead of the

nothingness of air and the endless

    freshets of wind? And don't you think

the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,

    warm caves, begin to think

of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep

    inside their bodies? 

Autumn in Wisconsin

And don't you hear

the goldenrod whispering goodbye,

    the everlasting being crowned with the first

tuffets of snow? The pond

    vanishes, and the white field over which

the fox runs so quickly brings out

    its blue shadows.

Autumn in Indiana

And the wind pumps its

bellows. And at evening especially,

    the piled firewood shifts a little,

longing to be on its way.

Autumn in Wisconsin