Population dwindled down,
summer cottages boarded up,
the speedboats dry-docked.
It is quiet
again.
Smoke in the clear air curls
upward, lazy,
from intermittent chimneys
as we few year-rounders
seek to break morning’s
creeping chill
with wood we’ve chopped
on summer evenings past.
In the night encroaching hoar-frost
has tipped each blade of grass
and whitened the lawns.
Ice rimes the shoreline,
the barest ripples sloshing,
while rafts of Mergansers
and Buffleheads feasting
on their southward stopover,
tip and dive,
and bob back up incessantly.
Windbreaks of ash and elm
stand barren,
grey-brown sentinels
upon the ridgelines,
and peer down upon
the browning tussocks,
brambles and reeds
of the swamplands,
where deer await pensive
the season’s orange-cloaked
intruders.
Soon the Cardinals will arrive,
to argue with Bluejays
and Nuthatches over
peanutbutter spread on
the lower limbs of oaks.
In one oak,
where a limb once grew,
broken off in some storm
before ever the farmers came,
a Raccoon peers out
before beginning her daytime nap.
An engine coughs and
roars at the cold,
and a tractor hauls
a manure-spreader
out into the stubbled fields
where geese waddle,
searching for spilled grain.
And the leaves rot
in autumnal piles
where the wind has pushed them,
all colours faded.
A chipmunk scurries out,
dives under a bush
and is gone.
And it is good
when at last
the summer-people
leave.
A contest entry
- Stick Season by ea.
1500 points, ended November 2, 19 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 9 of 9
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a beautiful fall by the seaside. Very nicely done. I can see those geese. What a wonderful picture you've painted. is the word 'hoar frost' or 'hoard frost'? Lots of nice alliteration, 'dwindled down', 'dry-docked', 'clear air curls'.
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Izzy,
Thanks. Yes it is 'hoar' not hoard. My typo error.
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There is a good colloquial feel to this what with the descriptions of boarded up cottages and cordwood cut, discussion of what ducks are on the flyway of the lake, and what birds will winter over. I like the description of the agriculture going on, it sounds very real to my ears, and further mention of wildlife, after the tame and sleeker summer tourist season has ended. Coming from the Champlain Valley, I am well aware of the phenomenon. Thank you for your portrait of "stick season".
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Wow, I really enjoyed this one...wonderful imagery throughout. Reminds me of Waterton Lakes Park in the fall. An excellent read, very well done.
Rory
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Rory,
Yep, right there near the border would just about fit the poem's season and scene.
Enjoy your winter.
JG
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Descriptively Shaped
and well shared poem ... There's naught to compare with how peaceful everywhere becomes when the tourists go home ... and the area that you've shared of sounds like my area year round, the joys of living on the river in the middle of no where. Enjoy it all while you can! j
y
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Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy your back country while it's there!
JG
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I have just returned from the US and your descriptions are just superb and it made me smile to remember it, my pictures would form a lovely backdrop for this and your words. Beautifully described
C
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C,
Gor, you're a real jet-setter! Thanks for reading and commenting. Glad it jived with your recent memories.
JG
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