Mary Salisbury: “Autumn Equinox”
AUTUMN EQUINOX
Another summer gone again
and we plant bulbs in shallow graves.
The sweep of shadow our dressage—
nothing here will stay.
As we plant bulbs in shallow graves
an orange cat bolts across the yard.
Nothing here will stay,
jumping leaves of red and yellow.
An orange cat bolts across the yard,
its hunt the loud grey squirrel
jumping leaves of red and yellow
with night now equal to the day.
The hunted loud grey squirrel
stores roots for winter’s cold,
with night now equal to the day,
and in the wind an organ moans.
Our roots are hidden for winter’s cold,
our lives are ashes yet uncovered.
And in the wind an organ moans
Saddle up and ride away.
Our lives are ashes yet uncovered.
We fold our woe into a pocket
to saddle up and ride away
its haunting glow of yellow moon.
We fold our woe into a pocket.
The sweep of shadow our dressage,
its haunting glow of yellow moon.
Another summer, gone again.
Mary Salisbury’s poetry has been published in Calyx, Michigan Quarterly Review, Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art, and other journals. An Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship recipient, Salisbury earned her MFA in Writing from Pacific University.