Featured Poem: Autumn Leaves

By Patrice M. Wilson
Honolulu Branch

 

These flaring reds, golden yellows,

oranges, magentas are last novas

of trees before they’re brown

crinkled candidates for another

kind of fire.

 

An unknowing child delights

in myriads of flushed brilliance

and loves the idea of snow

against black trunks sticking

their eerie points into a pallid

sky, these painted precursors

of death.

 

But the crispy air calls us

to be alert for light

that, though it fades

into a kind of welcome cold,

comes burning daily and nightly

in a warmth enclosed

by the heart.

 

So let them come,

the days, the days are skylights

in a living room with sofa

and chairs upholstered

in wilderness color.

We must look up to them as we

look up to the morning star.

12 comments

    • Patrice M Wilson says:

      You’re welcome! I’m glad you like it. Claire Massey is to be thanked for allowing it to be shared here., and I have done this in my response to her comment.

  1. Andrea Walker says:

    Patrice, your poem is lovely and sad, such vivid imagery of autumn, the bleakness of winter, and our place in the scheme of things. Quite poignant.

    • Patrice M Wilson says:

      “Lovely and sad…” Those words do describe the tone of the poem., and I very much like the fact that you point this out. Thanks.

    • Patrice M Wilson says:

      Thank you for your comment. This poem was inspired by many images and memories, from my growing up in New Jersey.

  2. Karen Morris says:

    Patricia, your poem is wonderful. It reminds me of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Spring and Fall: To a Young Child.” Both poems acknowledge how autumn’s beauty cannot fail to remind us of the inevitability of death. Though the child in the Hopkins poem is experiencing a vague sadness at the fallen leaves, your “unknowing child” has yet to feel anything but delight. And we are comforted by the light that IS left. I think your metaphors of autumn leaves as “novas” and the leaves (and/or snowflakes) “sticking . . . their eerie points,” and the days as “skylights” – all are very fine. What a beautiful ending. I look forward to reading more of your work..

    • Patrice M Wilson says:

      Karen, your detailed response to my poem is gratifying and spot on. I appreciate your comparison to Hopkins’ poem, and went to read it online; the similarities in theme are clear, while the style and tone are quite different. His poem reminded me of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by John Donne. My main purpose was to uplift, and not to remind readers of their mortality, although that is in my poem too. The theme of Donne’s poem that is suggested by the first phrase and following, “No man (sic) is an island,” is something I would like to work into another poem, and may have already. Thank you for your insights.

  3. Patrice M Wilson says:

    Charlene, I am delighted that you saw the delight in this poem! Thanks for your uplifting response. I think we should celebrate those possibly rare moments of utterly good thoughts and feelings, no matter what might have triggered them.

  4. Claire Massey says:

    What a moving, well-crafted poem about acceptance, about the beauty and comfort to be found in the inevitable.
    Thank you, Patrice!

    • Patrice M Wilson says:

      Thank you, Claire, for your very insightful interpretation of “Autumn Leaves,” and for allowing it to be published here.

Comments are closed.