Season of Musk

 

When did dapper cedar waxwing don
tuxedo for the berry feast?
Dressed to the nines in black mask and tails,

gliding over the ballroom of fallen water lilies.
Musk of collapsing melons.
Zest of the last chrysanthemum.
A bad hair day for the caterpillar.

Why does Mama Coyote flash

her platinum bling in the moonrise?

How could you not notice naked Alder

drop her golden gown

with a shrug of Autumn?

Fling your garment of excess away, 

woven from an endless thread of causes,

herringbone tweed of past and future,

twill of gristle and stars,

infinitesimal knit of rainbows

lining your breath’s dark cocoon.

On this self-luminous morning,

when the world seems all one silken

sutra, half whispering, "Thou,"

half sighing, "There is no other,"

friend, if you must go to war,

win it in your belly.

These woods, these prairies and insouciant

ruined gardens of September

have nothing to do with your disquiet.

They simply celebrate

the victory of flowers.

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