early to bed

so it’s another gray day
leaves bouncing
lightly
against the house and in a move
I don’t understand
there
has been some turning

one brilliant
tree I passed
just
the other day

I guess
maybe there’s a thirst
maybe a wish for a literal kind
of
cold comfort

maybe the green’s already tired
early August
in the north of east
and
yet it all seems out of time
though it isn’t
my time
to call at all

leaf-peeping
which sounds like a misdemeanor
might
come early to Pennsylvania

too
soon leaf’s-blood
come
sidling if not pouring out

with
a bright and subtle wish to notice
that the changes in our
climate
make
a difference

could be an occasion
of an invitation
only
with the big changes coming
closer to
when they should

a slight
note also to notice that it’s warmer
then
is should be
enhanced
by us
and what shall change

we drop the temperature
we burn finally
like
wildfires

or it’s an interpretation of
worldwide
a
nuclear winter

ongoing sounds pretty good for
ordinary against an
ending

c l couch


photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash