Tonsured trees shed their treasured leaves,
the world is cowelled in cold and gloom;
autumn takes vows of austere winter,
thinking of the heaven of springtime.
Little brother hedgehog’s working hard;
gathering, storing, building his den.
All through the winter, he’ll be cloistered
but he’ll emmerge into spring’s eden.
Barefoot blackbird wanders and preaches
about the salvation in the sun;
living off the kindness of nature,
eating worms but repenting with song.
The Lazar house of my heart is blessed
and the white wolf of winter is tamed
by the vision of a robin’s nest
and a novena of chrysanthemums.
Comments
lavadis | November 13, 2011 - 14:53
You have a lovely sense of whatmakes the seasons so special
Florian | November 13, 2011 - 16:08
I particularly like the third verse, with the blackbird as a kind of wandering preacher.
well-wisher | November 13, 2011 - 16:39
Thank you, Lavadis.
I think that, too often, people associate Autumn with sadness but, perhaps because I was born in the Autumn, it's always been my favourite time of year.
Very glad that you enjoyed it.
JoHn -
"Ex amore victoria". ("From love comes victory".)
well-wisher | November 13, 2011 - 16:54
Thank you, Florian.
I did alot of research into St Francis and the Franciscan order before writing the poem because I wanted it to be as accurate as possible.
St Francis really isn't celebrated enough.
He should be as famous as St. Nicholas, I feel, because he was just a truly remarkable person but I think that his teachings were so at odds with capitalism that he'll never be as well known as Santa Clause.
Really glad that you liked it.
JoHn -
"Ex amore victoria". ("From love comes victory".)