brown leaf
whirls  along
the  road
disturbed
by golf cart wheels
heads turn
just long enough
to register
it was green
once

with screen pulled  down
only  breezes not bugs
find refuge
in our stuffy bedroom
church bells chime
at the full hour
just before the train
cuts main street in half
sweet pup howls
in protest
of the conductor's
shrill whistle
crystal glassware shakes
in the cabinets
yet this old place
still stands.

Autumn's orange
ambassadors
sprawled over
drab suburban corners
a feast of  seasonal glory
pumpkin patch fever
for all to behold
corn mazes
stump
so many  wanderers
thirsty for  the egress
fresh apple cider waits
just around
that perfectly placed hay bale  
to quash dry mouths
and energize
tired  feet
that  press onward
towards
winter’s dreary
debut.

as
another  spent leaf
pirouettes
to the ground,
the bare  elegance
of frozen limbs
is  not very
far away  .

Our solar lamps  
plead for more sunshine
as they die 
 in the middle of dinner
every night
even  in this  stark Texas
  late afternoon light
        all the while
I can still
get a beastly burn
the faintest suggestion
of Fall
wafts through
the chilled
grocery store air
        rife
with frothy pumpkin lattes
maybe if I stare long enough
at the neighbor’s
front porch
loaded with  gaudy gourds
I can almost
trick myself
into feeling
crisp.

but not  rotten
summer's
last ambassadors
drip  off my lips  
glad my shirt
  is dark
and these  stains
won't really matter