Beauty Resists
So unexpected to come upon it
as we followed the swerving
waxwings, their commotion
in the air our umbrellas curtained:
the gold gingko
—double trunk rising
from its yellow leavings—
paving the sidewalk
with real luster,
cement softer under the mash
of ochre leaves along the gutters.
Shine of rain over everything.
In the park, vine maples hold on
to some crimson tatters
above the banks where the last salmon
fight their way home
in the stream bed
the neighbors made good again.
In these broken days—
half the nation whipsawed in grief
at what we will become—the sum
of Autumn’s rubric is
light and color in the trees,
flash of silver fins in the creek,
and late bees in the penstemon
still gathering pollen for the hive.
Header photo of gingko leaves on ground by auntmasako, courtesy Pixabay.