Boxed In
By Deborah Holt Williams
Glenwood Springs
Savvy collector or borderline hoarder?
Almost an addiction, right on the border.
I ought to recycle, I know that I should.
But I can’t toss a box when it’s perfectly good!
It might be just perfect for under the tree.
(Months from now, yes — but proactive, that’s me.)
And I just may need it for mailing one day,
Or I’ll fill it with photos I can’t throw away.
Yay! Here comes that truck with more stuff to deposit.
More cardboard containers to stuff in my closet!
Flamboyant Fall
Jan Hadwen Hubbell
Dearheart flamboyant fall
trading with the tang of decay,
You twist our hand toward melancholy.
The mistake we make:
A last urge to envelope you,
Surging toward sleep
And death as we are.
But we belie your message of decrepitude
Lest you could not shower
Yellow for yellow.
Drop red for red.
Show us something delicate
Show us something deeper.
The sting is cut with your withering
And softens the blow.
Bring on the bright becoming.
Breathe us one more breathtaking woebegone summer of pink and green,
Oh, swindler, whose currency is perpetuity.
Cold you have become.
Your fire burns toward an end
Emptying out in order to be made vaguely full.
Autumn Recipe for Scrumptious
By Nancy Bo Flood
Four Mile
How does autumn taste?
Freshly dug potatoes,
Swim in creamy gravy,
A mouthful of paradise.
Home-grown tomatoes,
Beefsteak or cherry,
Plump, round, red,
Pop them in your mouth.
Smile.
Crunchy crisp cucumbers
Ready for pickling,
Sour, sweet or dill.
Try a pickle pizza,
Nothing else quite like it.
Hot roasted chilis,
Piles of peppers, mix in
Onions from the garden,
cilantro and garlic,
Tomatillos or tomatoes
Salsa! Love it!
Roasted chilis,
Sweet corn dripping with melted butter,
Nibble along the golden rows.
Oh, I must stop,
Stomach overfull.
What? Apple strudel, pumpkin pie!
Just one slice, well, maybe two,
Please pass the whipped cream.
What’s that you ask?
How does autumn taste?
I sigh –
Delicious!