Crowshed

Days shorten past the fall equinox
with unseasonable warmth and rising mist.
Shed crow feathers blow round city blocks

where wind only mutters and rain talks
about summer's damp parting-kissed
days shortening past fall equinox.

Leaves hang yellow over moss-black rocks
chattering of the gravity they still resist
though shed feathers blow round city blocks.

Season changes in a train of subtle shocks,
humid caresses rather than an icy fist
in these days shortening past equinox.

We note these signs on slow neighborhood walks:
black checkmark at the top of the list,
the shed crow feathers that blow round our blocks.

Falling rain hides roosts of the sable flocks
so we hardly can tell that they still exist
in these days shortening past equinox—
crows whose shed feathers blow round our blocks.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside