oh autumn, you are a beautiful nymph
with auburn hair and dark red lips
and eyes as gray as the fog
you drape around you each morning
like a blanket against the cold
you sprinkle the air with
golden sunshine to warm the afternoon
you draw your fingers across the trees
and transform their leaves into glorious color
trying to hold onto you is like
trying to catch the woodsmoke of fall fires
or trying to paint the blazing pigments
of the sunset before it fades
for as soon as you appear, you
are reading to leave –
stay, stay we beg and enchant us
with your hues, your warmth,
your burning light of life
and protect us against
the icy maiden of winter
By Alphonse Mucha – Art Renewal Center Museum, image 4426, Public Domain
Copyright ©2026 Lisa Paul. All rights reserved.
