Happy Black Friday, a day I am celebrating with another family gathering around our newest grandchild Stella. She is turning one on Tuesday. There will be the traditional day after Thanksgiving gumbo as well as cake and presents and lots of wildness from her toddler brother and cousin. The best kind of Black Friday ever.
In the meantime, I wrote a quick ode to join the Poetry Sisters challenge for this month.
Ode to Autumn
Something in the way you move
attracts the wandering eyes
of this watcher–
a tapestry of yellow and red
settles my wild mind.Something in the way you move
blows a soft whisper
to my weathered cheek
not warm like a kiss
but tickles just the same.Something in the way you move
stirs my soul to memory,
opens the stored-away box
of photos releasing a scent
of amber and wood.You move quickly, Autumn,
dropping by with a basketful
of acorns and satsumas,
sweet sugarcane cigar,
then leave on a storm cloud.Take my grief with your wind
Margaret Simon, draft
and turn my heart to joy.
For Molly, who lost her dear father on Thanksgiving Day
Reflections on the Teche 
tapestry of yellow and red, opening that stored away box, satsumas, sugar cane and cider. So many rich flavors and scents and sights. Beautiful poem.
Margaret, lovely poem. It even seems like a form you may have made up. I love the repetition of “Something in the way you move” attracts, blows and stirs. Getting you into the season with all your senses. Then the fourth stanza: “You move quickly, Autumn…” with all its glorious gifts. Beautiful. Lovely gift of comfort for Molly.
Simply beautiful. And that final couplet. Yes.
Love the penultimate stanza, Margaret. Lovey direct address to Autumn. So sorry for Molly’s loss.
A beautiful poem, with final lines that mean a great deal to many of us.
Your apostrophe feels soft and loving, Margaret, a way to show your gratitude. It’s lovely! Hope your Black Friday was just as you described!
Something in the way you move makes such a lovely refrain.
blows a soft whisper / to my weathered cheek; love this gentle note.
My heart is sad for Molly.
Oh, settle our wild minds, yes, and those last lines. May we be this watcher in between gumbo and birthdays, like you!
An ode to autumn, friendship, and empathy. Thank you, Margaret…(and happy birthday to Stella!)
Beautiful ode, Margaret. “Take my grief…turn my heart to joy.” I will keep that with me this season. Thank you.
This beginning: Something in the way you move, the smell of amber and wood, what a beautiful ode.
Margaret, there is so much to like about this poem. The way you invoke all of the senses and wrap it up with that final couplet — beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Your choice of “Something” moves this poem so powerfully and gracefully with empathy and love for another, for Molly and her father, beautiful Margaret, thanks.
Margaret, such a beautiful and powerful ode to autumn and a thoughtful gift for Molly. Oh my, your refrain, colors, use of senses, action, and “Take my grief with your wind and turn my heart to joy” moved me. I am sorry for Molly’s loss of her father.