Suddenly

Suddenly

by Tom King

Suddenly it's fall. The cottonwoods announced it today

With a gold and russet ticker tape parade;

A shower of leaves raining down when a sudden breeze

Gusted among the treetops, shaking them loose.

Me and the dog, rambling down the lane, were caught up in it.

The crisp pop of dried leaves rattling down among the branches;

Blowing into loose drifts at my feet made me look up.

Gray clouds threaded across the fading blue sky.

The dog is excited. All the dogs along the lane are barking and jumping,

They smell the rabbits and the squirrels, making forays

From brambles, thickets and decaying trees, pillaging and storing

Their booty in treasure caches only they can find sometimes.

The season changed today, not on the official date

But on the schedule that the Earth and Sun decided.

We feel small, me and the dog, wandering the gravel roads;

There are bigger things going on that we may not meddle with.

Autumn came suddenly today.  Yesterday was summer.

Now it's fall - announced with a breathy whisper

Along the lane, beneath the cottonwood trees

An errant breeze pressed along by gray clouds.

It feels like a celebration, what with the dogs and squirrels and leaves

All a-twitter like kids let out of school, or going back after summer.

Something staged by He who spun out the worlds and placed us here,

To smile at Him when autumn is announced, all of a sudden.

© 2013 by Tom King

Written at the Carriage House – Puyallup, Washington