Autumn Twilight

autumn kisses blue the twilight
sombre stands the birch:
guardian of the last bright colours
yellow orange gold

brown and auburn
beeches, oaks, and poplars fade
into a wood
of green and grey

naked limbs lifted,
maple and lime
have stopped dancing
in circles
of downtrodden leaves

crowned with red berries
rowan laughs with the winds
crows and throws conkers at the kids

while on the hills the forest rustles
myriad leaves with many voices
telling stories to the sprites
beyond, the cold lake calms
the treelings with her slow-sweet lullabies

with a hard gloaming
November
greets the night:
cheers!
his toast for her is brisk
as he drinks the dusk to darkness,
leaving the birch
to dream
of light