Arkansas Highway 23 (Pig Trail): New England and the Carolinas have nothing on the Ozarks in autumn

Preparing to return to the "valley" of Central Arkansas

(cinquain sequence)
by Pat Laster

As on
the first morning,
on this last one, I dress
warmly, but not bundled --like on
that cold

morning
in October.
Now the clocks are turned back
and I sit on the porch once more,
taking

in fall.
There goes a squirrel
across Spring Street. A bird
chitters. Farther up the mountain,
a crow.

Layer
upon layer
of ancient limestone keeps
the mountainside at bay and safe
for our

parking.
Maples, redbuds,
 gums, oaks and hickories--
fiery in fall colors--contrast
with pine,

cedar.
Ivy, clinging
like a needy woman,
will eventually kill its host.
Saplings

will spring
into the space
like children when parents
die. I can imagine being
"owner"

of this
piece of Eden.
Alas, all things must end.
I bid Dairy Hollow goodbye
until

next spring.
Writers who come
after this, treat yourselves;
great heights of creative spirit
await.
#

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press, Benton Arkansas