September Shorts

September Shorts

1.
A litter of oak leaves
Skitter across the porch
Turn into cat toys
On the afternoon breeze.
2
Acorns ping the tin roof
clatter and roll down to the gutters.
Raucous Jays hunt and peck
tossing tree debris right and left
anxious for a meal.
3.
Late September mornings come slower.
Cool nights raise river fog.
The slant of sun reveals
exhausted green, fading
magenta of dogwood.
4.
Brisk gray mornings yield
to brilliant blue-sky afternoons.
Wood smoke climbs the evening air.
Leaf piles gather children’s giggles,
while school books wait tables.
5.
With a great crack
a plum tree splits in half.
Every dog in the neighborhood growls.
The spindly plum is no match
for a bear escaping attacks
By climbing its little limp boughs.
6.
September salmon
Smell the change in the river
the run has begun

Smoke houses primed
apple wood and cedar, smudge
deep pink flesh on strings

Salmon harvest begins
Feeds people time and again
A blessing for all