Autumn

Orange leaves on chocolate trunks fight the fall,
gusts of wind down the track, swirls of colour;
ambitiously they cling to summer’s warmth,
light the path for many a wanderer.
Boots crunch through red sea, hands stroke mossy ash –
kick up leaves, step over jutting roots, rein
in boughs that block the way; holly scratches
bare skin, stalks nude, evergreen dazzling.
Under a scarlet sky, bare branches loll
in silence, threats of frost in the air –
strips of red on the horizon, swallowed.
Sun sinks beneath silhouette, brightly flares.
Moon winks over a dense pattern of brown,
dawn rises, white snow covers twigs and ground.