Fall 1977
October snow
Bringing orange-leafed branches
to the ground,
Sugar-coating highways with
a slick, white icing,
Insulating souls from a chill Autumn
wind.
It was a mistake,
"My own damn fault"
And as out of place as that
weighty snow
On branches not denuded for Winter.
It could have been fun,
Just slip-sliding through
a fluke snowstorm,
Inhaling the incongruous colors
of the
Fall and Winter mix, if I'd known
how.
Novice drivers on such days
Are pulled from the battered
remnants of cars
Low on the mountainside,
Rescuers following snow tracks below
the curves.
I suppose I was lucky,
Landing so soft that my uncontrolled
slide
Seems nothing worse than a
moment
Of beautiful landscapes unobserved.
11/8/99
