Pause.

Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for
the birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
Mary Oliver. “Song for Autumn.”

Oh Lord, it’s time, it’s time. It was a great summer. Lay down your shadow
now on the sundials, and on the open fields let the winds go!
Rainer Maria Rilke. “October Day.” Trans. Robert Bly.