Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OCTOBER PASTEL, by THOMAS DUNCAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OCTOBER PASTEL, by                    
First Line: We met in spring,' he said, and heard wild geese
Last Line: "it gets dark early, doesn't it? ..."" she said."
Subject(s): Autumn; Seasons; Fall


"We met in spring," he said, and heard wild geese
Crying out of the cloudy north. "We met
In spring," she said, and saw the autumn lake,
And strange weeds burning by the quiet road.
"We met in spring," he said, and heard the wind
Rustling its bony fingers through the corn
That early frosts had plundered. "And I think
We loved in spring," she said, "it seems ... we loved
All through an afternoon of rain and light.
I think we loved," she said, and saw the sky
Streaked by the smoke of bonfires, and the valley
Swimming away through haze to sleeping hills,
And all the rotten richness of the earth
Debauched already by October, and
Blurred distances that yawned with mellow softness
Like a picture snapped by a poorly-focused camera.
"And now," he said, "we cannot even grasp
The autumn in our fingers. We've tried ... we've tried.
But always it eludes us ..." "Yes," she said,
"We've tried. I think it's running very fast,
I think it's leaving soon. I think we can't
Hold autumn now because it runs so fast.
I think we can't hold anything," she said.
"I think we can't," he said, and saw the north
Where winter waited. "It will come," he said.
"Winter will come. You mark my words," he said.
She nodded slowly. "I suppose ..." she said.
"It gets dark early, doesn't it? ..." she said.





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