Autumn

The leafy woods are rich in brown and russet,
With golden glints that shimmer here and there,
And deep and fragrant odors from each farm place
Are lending added sweetness to the air.

The flaming sumac nods from every hedgerow,
A purple mist unites the land and sky,
The hills are robed in radiant hues of splendor,
And golden leaves in luscious grasses lie.

The stretching skies are sapphire-hued and shining,
At every turning, luring pathways call,
The dark brown walnuts speak of autumn's fruitage
As gently one by one they snap and fall.

The night is tremulous with gleaming starlight,
With secret whispers that delight and thrill,
The moonlight falls in soft and mellowed beauty
Upon the crumbling house and ruined mill.
I sit entranced and drink deep of this beauty
In generous draughts until I feel and know
My portion of the magic and the rapture
That has been willed to each of us below.

^__Katherine Edelman

Contemporary Kansas Poetry
Helen Rhoda Hoopes
page 56
(Kansas City: Joseph D. Havens Company. 1927)