Autumn Afternoon
Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.
--Annie Dillard
Slices of sky emerge muted blue
through old oak grove.
Hours delay to deliberate attention.
Beyond sultry light and quiet
shrill scrub jay swaggers in the chaparral.
Wind curls through tangled ridges,
rides the canyon channel.
Spiny shells of dry leaves cling,
brittle in their slow release.
Cobweb threads, so thin as to appear invisible,
still hold a spider’s silk-swathed prey.
Harsh on dry hillside, four wild turkeys
with breast beards forage for acorns.
Burnished green fire hummingbird feasts
among strawberry geranium petals.
Red-tailed hawk and a Painted Lady fritillary
drift on shared delft airway.
White hibiscus clouds bloom in the sky.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.
--Annie Dillard
Slices of sky emerge muted blue
through old oak grove.
Hours delay to deliberate attention.
Beyond sultry light and quiet
shrill scrub jay swaggers in the chaparral.
Wind curls through tangled ridges,
rides the canyon channel.
Spiny shells of dry leaves cling,
brittle in their slow release.
Cobweb threads, so thin as to appear invisible,
still hold a spider’s silk-swathed prey.
Harsh on dry hillside, four wild turkeys
with breast beards forage for acorns.
Burnished green fire hummingbird feasts
among strawberry geranium petals.
Red-tailed hawk and a Painted Lady fritillary
drift on shared delft airway.
White hibiscus clouds bloom in the sky.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
