Two Fall Poems and One Inspection Sticker

September 12, 2014 – Two Fall Poems and One Inspection Sticker 

Fall Poem #1:  Fall-ing

The darkness comes earlier
I wait longer and longer

for morning light to rouse me from slumber
Chilly dampness settles on my bare arms

as I trudge down to the street under gray skies

and pick up the newspaper in its plastic sleeve

Is it my imagination

or is the grass growing more slowly?

At the entrance to Wegman’s

the heady aroma of cinnamon brooms and pine cones

announces the impending season

with a joy I don’t share
Likewise I pretend not to see

the mountain of pumpkins at the door of Trader Joes.

As for Halloween costumes and candy?

I refuse to think about it

Back at home, I whisk away the mottled leaves

that trail me into the house

and blink away visions of bare trees
It’s only September

too soon to say goodbye to summer

I check the week’s forecast –

90s again!

Yes, but also humid,

muggy,

stifling.

Enough, I concede   

It’s time   
Bring on fall

Fall Poem #2:  Autumn Again

Fall beckons
A sky that tempts me to reach

for a canvas, brush and paint
to capture its magical shades of blue and wisps of clouds

A breeze that stirs

a crescendo and diminuendo of rustling leaves
and carries morning birdcalls through the trees

Magical mushrooms blossom like roses

on fallen logs

Behind the weathered wooden fence
Pops of ruby-toned berries splayed over vines

Tall weeds who flaunted lacy white tops all summer

are now sporting an antiqued patina

A sudden swath of wild flowers,

brilliant yellow, defying the season
They welcome a bee who alights

for a last taste of summer’s nectar

Leaves in infinite shades of amber

drift earthward
and crackle under my feet

as I walk the familiar path
These woods I know so well

are changing into their autumnal finery
as they do every year
My 64th autumn –
and it still amazes

On a more prosaic note, we finally finished playing the Car Inspection Game for this year.  But before we were able to get that precious sticker on our windshield, we had to endure two and a half hours of torture at NTB for a tire alignment and some kind of therapeutic procedure to make my headlights sparkle.  When I say it was torture, I’m not exaggerating.  Take a look at the reading options NTB provides for their customers:  Oil & Lube News, Ratchet and Wrench, Tow Times.  

I was so desperate that I actually started flipping through one of these magazines in a vain attempt to distract myself from the intense aroma of rubber tires that wafted into the waiting room.  It wasn’t easy, but we survived the ordeal, and eventually drove off in a car that was fully compliant with Virginia’s exacting standards.  The following day, I waited in line nearly two hours at the Shell station for a re-inspection, and I can now safely announce that we’re all set for one more year.