wisconsin, colored autumn
wisconsin is so sad in summer …
like a lying lover
she wont believe
he’s true
she cuts off her shorts
& plays water sports
but doesn’t know just
quite what to do?
she wants to believe his promises
hot days & warm nite moons
but deep down inside
she aches & writhes
knowing he’ll be gone
& soon
but fall brings out her very best!
such a handsome man!
cider & hay rides
letter-sweater pride
& crisp walks
holding hands
her cheeks go ruddy & burn hot red
when she feels his cool caress
his touches thrill; rush & a chill
thru her brightest-colored dress
the players
her yellows begin as tufts & streaks
lone spots, splashes & dots
gold-brushed hedges
& lipstickd edges
climbing trees
to peak tiptops
her yellows take on cadmium hues
shy lemon
& citron canary
neon banana
hot honey
tan mana
& no.2 pencil
blaring
her yellows taste like summer sun
golden delicious & sweet
radiant lit
tart & crisp
cool crunching
sheets
her yellows paint entire lanes
curb to sky, long & deep
& gaudy school busses
spilling out cusses
for once camouflaged
can creep
her yellows twitch
like flame licks
aloft hilltops
like torches
fresh from a match
they dance & catch
in ferocious
forest fire scorches
bold gold pillars
streak to the sky
yellow pyramids
stand on their heads
big pools sprawl deep
heap up & steep
& the ground sleeps
in big yellow beds
yellow clouds
lift from the ground
& hang right there
in the air
yellow rising
a whole horizon
a billion gold pixels
times square’d
showers flash
& heaven’s riches
rain in gold
on down
copper flakes
& coins
spinning wakes
free for all
& piled high
on the ground
…
autumn turns her greens jealous
& reminiscent for summer & spring
greens put on proud airs
selfish to share
yearning & envious
once king
fresh greens flaunt
& wax nonchalant
flourishing
fervid & strong
& resilient greens
& holding on greens
grip tight
in the pines & to lawns
till begrudging greens give & relent
& defeated greens melt away
& somber greens sulk
beneath yellows’ hulk
& only then do greens join the parade
…
her reds explode with violence
hot fresh rips
shreds & slashes
strips drip nigh
& bleed from the sky
in splashing
vermillion
gashes
her reds gleam in choke cherry
& waxy poison apple shine
raw red fire engine
screams unrelenting
syrah spills
& leaves merlot
lines
her reds smolder
to cinnamon rust
paprika & chili
ground coarse
smoky rouge
& rose petal hues
like burgundy
& jugs of port
her maples don
long scarlet gowns
her staghorn
pluck crimson jewels
oaks turn to rubies
elms sparkle moody
& unravel
in red threaded spools
…
her pinks suck sweet life
out of her reds
like vampires
draining the dying
siphoned drops & belts
pulled pale, that melt
to svelte slight pink
light shining
her pinks are perky & pretty
soft salmon blossom
embossing
pert petal bells
peal’d pearls & shells
sweet as cupcake
cream frosting
…
her oranges descend in parachutes
like sweet fruit
accrued & in bloom
skylines preach peach
with apricot leafs
on melon plumed avenue
afternoons
her oranges appear
in oriole feathers
monarch wings
& sharp roadwork cones
her hunter orange blaze
shoots sunset rays
frozen in saffron
toned shows
orange trick-or-treats in jelly beans
candy corn
& fat taffy vats
reese cup wrappers
grinning jackolanterns
& creeping creamscicle cats
no color is prouder
in autumn than orange
it finally has its say!
orange eats acres thru
burns trees carrot hues
& every last pumpkin
gets its day
in the mix
trees that once waded in puddles
of dark-shadow blue & black null
… are now tiled under
in mosaics of color
green orange pink red
& yellow
orange falls & shrivels in rising sheets
like fresh hot-baked pie crust
& beneath
congealing
is a green filling
just awaiting fork holes
to steam gust
green willows cry
yellow streak tears
yellow gets smudged
with green lines
lime, lemon-tipped?
or yellow, green-dipped?
chartreuse is when she
wont make up her mind
yellow forests roll
over green hills
& green trees top
yellow-leaf lacquer
a theme & an ode
great green & gold
& that is why god
made the packers
orange bushes simmer
spiced golden
red vines climb
brown brick links
chimney plumes choke
tufts of lavender smoke
oaks think purple
& sunsets go pink
pinks weathered brittle
melt yellow
red turns translucent
orange-veined
brown greens
& green browns
make purple sounds
& purple
tasting pink
remembers green
blue & white
shine clean & bright
in tree trunks
& clouds that drift by
birch & aspen lines
& slender pines climb
to white moons
in cerulean skies
Deep Color
every last tuft & puff
plume & burst
is color
heaped up in layers
bright puzzle pieces collide
with crisp creases
as color swells
everywhere
color in dabs
& double daubs
dribbles
dropped
& marbled miens
mismatcheds merge
in bold-braided blurs
like the best
of impressionist scenes
patchwork color
is stitched & sewn
into thick quilts
newly delivered
color thrown over trees
with the first freezing breeze
to warm them at night
when they shiver
colorful patches
on branches
in batches
rise round
as hot air balloons
& full trees
still with all their leaves
stand proud
as all their friends swoon
color parasols
snap open & up
color domes
arching, on high
streets grab pompoms
to shake color aplomb
lining avenues
on both sides
all summer’s color
horded stockpiled
in bits & saved up
for months
color spent to amaze
in one dying blaze
fireworks fired days
all at once
& that is why god made the browns
& then it is a brown-scale world
as death makes her first
lively rounds
leaves trickle steady
dry rusty confetti
peanut butter bits bob
orange & brown
golden landscapes
baked like pancakes
& crisp crustd
roast almond scenes
a kiln-toasted haze
of melted beige glaze
murmuring
burnt-umber
praline
then flat dead grey
eats days away
strips shrubs
& leaves
naked trees
grey chews clouds & sky
& sucks landscapes dry
& the whole world
goes white in one freeze
- end –