“Miracle” by Kathe Davis
Maybe
the burning bush
was just autumn
it would have been
enough
Tanka from my garden
Can you see the first four leaves setting the pace with Autumn on its way?
autumn watching
the first four amber leaves
in our oak tree
pink and grey galahs
feast on hanging acorns
autumnal music (publ. in Fire on Water)
I thought I knew the sound
its rustic ring
its tingle
down
my spine
its warm gurgle in my feet
and hands
its whisper
at the nape of my neck
and satisfying sighs pulsing
cool and crisp and clear
yet autumn always shocks
its soul-satisfying crunches
and munches and moans
wild wind in corridors
and howls through window gaps
its rhyming rustle tones
with snicks and snaps and cracks
always surprise
as I listen
to the easy drift of vesper leaves
settling to a hush
CONKERS
Autumn walk in England
in the beginning
rugged up against the air’s frosty fingers
they stomp the crispy crunch
of autumnal earth
then along the bridleway
in search of conker trees
the children scamper
running this way and that
when the conker tree is found.
excitedly we stop and look up
its big arms reaching out
whispers climb me climb me
and the conkers wait
like furry animals
for a good shake to wake
and awake they come ping ponging down
these prickly popping conkers
in large exuberant handfuls
are chased and counted
as our day is written on
by these children
with commas, question
and exclamation marks
and ticked by amazement.
And with our little English Grandchildren we sing
Leaves are Falling
(tune-Jingle bells)
Leaves are falling,
Leaves are falling,
One fell on my nose!
Leaves are falling,
Leaves are falling,
One fell on my toes!
Leaves are falling,
Leaves are falling,
One fell on my head!
Leaves are falling,
leaves are falling,
Yellow, orange and red!
The following poem is from a gorgeous book called
The Lost Words
by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie French
The book is actually a collection of words put to poetry that are actually be deleted, erased from the English Dictionary and it seems devastating that words like acorn, willow , fern and some common birds are being sacrificed for the new modern words of today. Children still need to know the language of their natural world. Here is the poem and illustration for the Conker from the book.
