An Early October Cold :: from American Life in Poetry

Here we repost the weekly poetry column brought to you, free of charge, by American Life in Poetry – an organization supported by The Poetry Foundation, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006, Ted Koosner. This week is presented a windy-cold and haunting poem by Don Thompson:

October

I used to think the land

had something to say to us,

back when wildflowers

would come right up to your hand

as if they were tame.

Sooner or later, I thought,

the wind would begin to make sense

if I listened hard

and took notes religiously.

That was spring.

Now I’m not so sure:

the cloudless sky has a flat affect

and the fields plowed down after harvest

seem so expressionless,

keeping their own counsel.

This afternoon, nut tree leaves

blow across them

as if autumn had written us a long letter,

changed its mind,

and tore it into little scraps.