Fall Equinox - a reading
Antique velvet light slips through the window each morning,
as soft as autumn rain, as gray and gentle as her age. A smoky orange dawn
burns through the eastern sentinels presaging a western storm.
Golden brown cypress stand sentry on the shore, guardians of
the changing season set against a verdant army of grass and pine. Pine seeds
spiral down with each echo of autumn, embryonic helicopters auto-rotating
toward the light of an arboreal dream. A mat of pine needles bakes in the
afternoon sun, its resinous scent cloaking autumn in the memory of her secret
summer sanctuary.
Eagles perch atop slate-green aeries, guarding the
approaches from the teal-green sea. A raptor feigning sleep atop the fence post
swivels to study our eyes before ruffling its feathers into flight.
Summer’s children drift away like dandelion seeds on a
spring breeze, settling somewhere distant to sprout families of their own. One
by one, they settle on the water at dusk. For some, the journey has ended,
while others will continue beyond the horizon, out of sight.
© 2013 Edward P. Morgan III
© 2013 Edward P. Morgan III
The fall equinox in Florida is always an odd time. The light changes and fades long before we get any break from the heat. When the cypresses begin to brown, I always think they are dying and diseased because there is no other hint of autumn in the air.
ReplyDeleteI love the light starting this time of year. It really does silver from the arc-welder bright white of summer. There is something comforting about that to me. Something that says events will begin to move forward after the lazy, hazy days of summer better spent avoiding the noontime sun.
Picture Notes:
ReplyDeleteThe line about the eagles ("Eagles perch atop slate-green aeries") reminded me of the blade eagles in St Petersburg. Their nest was in a tall pine tree in a large cemetery. I started this sketch with one of the pictures I'd taken of the eagles, taken from below. Like all the other sketches, it was done in multiple layers, each adding line, color or shadow to build up the final version.
Music Notes:
ReplyDeleteAs I've mentioned on several social media sites, I recently commissioned a musical piece to accompany the credits of the Noddfa Imaginings readings. The band is called Leave Awake and is composed of two brothers I've known since high school who both had a great deal of influence on my musical taste. I provided them with a few ideas as to what I was looking for and turned them loose. First they provided me with three sets of chord progressions to choose from, then with the final piece shortly after I picked. Even if you don't normally, I hope you will listen to the reading through the credits. They did a fantastic job.
You can find more of their music at:
http://www.reverbnation.com/leaveawake