Laura Novak
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Autumn is a Between Place - A Guest Post by Jotter

9/24/2012

 
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Jotter, another of my favorite authors from Scribd, a man whose writing can make me blush, laugh and cry, graciously shares a gorgeous poem about fall with us here. You can find more of his work on his website called Jotting Down A Life. Steve U., take us away...


… where children play outside between school and supper,

a place where mums bloom in palettes but other flowers

brown and shrivel, a crisp between-ness nearing that we can't see,

but we know the subtleness of the whisper in our ear,

like the almost-bounce of a branch after a bird wings away,

our attention is pulled to the side as if a curtain is pulled,

a sense of the between places being readied


for a crossing. Dutiful spirits oversee

the between-ness of our lives that is the falling

of wakefulness to sleep, of warm day

to cool night, of walking from the sun of mountain-top


to the shade of down-walking in the valley.

The crossing to autumn is in the air, the exit

from summer just beyond our grasp, and just remembered

is a list next to our reading glasses where not all is crossed off.

Our senses tell us the change is about to fall,

when the leaves will change their last this year,

and winds will blow cool and curve around,

and picnics will need a light coat.

It is in the silent approach and the raspy shadows,

and one morning when we wake we will find

this Autumn between-place will be behind us,


and wonder at the change over a cup of coffee

brewed and sipped in the late dawn light,

between our waking and starting the day.



Copyright:  The Jotter, 2012


Barbara Alfaro link
9/24/2012 04:05:40 am

Thank you Steve for this beautiful poem. "The almost-bounce of a branch after a bird wings away" is such a specific and wonderful image.

Steve (The Jotter)
9/24/2012 10:11:07 am

Thank you for the nice comment. I am often struck by the movements that must have been there a moment ago, or the things that almost happened, and exploring those. Autumn seems to be full of those.

Laura Novak
9/24/2012 05:08:27 am

I agree, Barbara. That line jumped out at me too. Thank you again, Steve. Beautiful work!

Steve (the Jotter)
9/24/2012 10:12:15 am

Thank you for the opportunity to share this here! You are very generous with your blog and your comments!

Rolando link
9/24/2012 07:33:08 am

Thanks for this one Jotter. Life often seems to be a succession of "betweens" but it is more noticeable when they are bracketed by extremes that are so different (winter and summer). Amazing the things that the tilt in the earth's axis can bring about (including your poem)!

Steve (the Jotter)
9/24/2012 10:13:58 am

Thanks Rolando...you set a high bar with your own poem! (I think the tilt in earth's axis also made some coins fall out of my pockets today...)

grannyj
9/24/2012 09:10:25 pm

What a beautiful poem. Your images have awakened all of my senses- I particularly love the image of the list next to the reading glasses with not everything crossed off. Thank you Steve(the Jotter).

Steve (The Jotter)
9/25/2012 01:32:12 pm

Thank you! It's the details that make life fun...and make stories, art, poems etc fun, isn't it?

Laura Novak
9/25/2012 01:59:07 am

I agree, Granny J. And I love the image of the wind curving away. I am simply incapable of writing like Jotter and Phantomimic. So I am grateful when they share the beauty of their words with all of you.

Steve (The Jotter)
9/25/2012 01:34:24 pm

Oh, you write plenty beautiful yourself! (Reminder...need the next book in Clari's adventures!)

grannyj
9/25/2012 08:36:21 pm

Well dear Laura- I am incapable of writing like you. So I appreciate all of you. : )

Ingrid Ricks link
9/25/2012 08:38:12 am

Jotter..what a beautiful poem! So great to find your work her on Laura's blog. Wish I could write poetry like this. Thanks!

Steve (The Jotter)
9/25/2012 01:36:21 pm

Thank you, Ingrid! I wish I could write like Hippie Boy! (Everyone should go check that one out.)

suzanne
9/28/2012 06:05:48 am

Don't you love how when "the crossing of autumn is in the air" we all smell it on the same day? You've captured my favorite season's beauty. Thanks, Steve.


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