Autumn's Turning And Turned Leaves Poem by Deanna Samuels

The Turning Leaves

It happens every year, never does it miss
though slight variation of week or even day.
Nature knows, trees know when to begin
and this year has been even earlier.
Noticeably, it started in early September,
that hint of browning, a few leaves start to fall
and now, well into mid-September
the momentum has come into full force
with foliage starting to carpet the avenues,
crunchy and drying as it lays.
Further afield, a little more north,
a more drastic change is taking place
with coloring showing many reds and golds,
while south, there is still plenty of green,
but the fresh summer lush has long gone,
with already tinges of rust at edge
holding on to final few days of full dress.


The Turned Leaves

Seemed only a few weeks ago the scene was generally green,
those weeks in between, what a change to be viewed,
the glamorous Fall has already past its best dress
and those glorious golds and reds faded, falling,
mingling with a carpet of burnished browns upon grassy lawns,
taking time to crinkle and dry and turn into earth's nutrient.
The remaining scene, still, a wondrous sight
with burnt orange and brown amid already leafless boughs,
cameoed against forest backdrop of dark green winter firs
emitting that extra brightness to autumn's last tinges.

Cornfields, having long lost their lush green stalks and juicy cobs,
stand boldly, stiffly as faded straw, awaiting harvesting for ethanol,
enhancing the dying colorations of surrounding long grasses
while roadside wild flowers sway in the wind, brown and dry,
sagging, deflated of pride, their bright summer hues faded, gone,
and shortly will become brittle, breaking down, crumbling away.
Very soon, the glorious autumn foliage will completely have fallen,
be swept and bagged, driven away to transform into compost
or left where they lay, disintegrating, crumbling into the soil,
Nature's own nourishment to enhance next season's rebirth.



First poem written late mid-September 2024 and second poem written late October 2024 at Courtice, Ontario.