From the collection Picture Making, published 2017. The three photos served as the inspiration for the poem. For more information, look here.
Embers
Wrapped around in a loose coil
the afternoon suns itself
in a mild November way.
Luxuriate in the generosity of
the red leaves
piled in the gutter.
Relish the warmth. A day like this
in November
is unusual. Savor it.
Soon enough the shadows will bend over
and touch the ground
stretch themselves
until they are night
chilly and coming too soon
The sky unbroken dark and yet inside it
each red leaf
its own
bright
spark.
11/3/15
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
Ah. The last lines are a long sigh.
Thank you. I love this time of year, goodbyes and coming to rest.
I feel it more of a fight, the struggle of the wind in the branches, the flurries of leaves, the cold coming and the gunshots. It’s an unsettling time of year, brooding. But I see the beauty in it too.
Yes. Autumn is unrestrained.
It’s a zone of turbulence before the still of winter.
Ah, November, well said.
My favorite month, because it is my birthday month, but, I also really just like the fall.
Happy birthday…when it happens.
In a couple more weeks! Thank you.
Lovely, Claudia. I agree those last lines are beautiful.
This start of November is beautiful, but I don’t like the longer darkness.
I’m enjoying having the windows open right now while I can though. 🙂
Thank you. What a nice thing you said. November is special for me because I was born in this month, and I’ve always liked Thanksgiving, and the colder weather and leaf raking!
It’s funny–my sister who lives in your area also has a November birthday–tomorrow. I love Thanksgiving, too.
Happy birthday to your sister from another November birthday!
You’ve caught this beautiful time of the year perfectly through your sensory imagery and that sense of Autumn being a fulcrum between summer and winter.
Thank you. That’s a great way to put it. The year is balanced on each season in turn. I especially see this in autumn when what is is becoming what was. I like the feeling of change.
I love that last paragraph too. The image of shadows stretching themselves until they are night is powerful as is the image of a red leaf becoming a spark in the night.
Thank you. I have seen evening to night in this way since I was small, I used look for it, to see when the transition was made, of course couldn’t. And this time of year I still try, because of the way the light goes. I love autumn, I guess you can tell!