Epilogue of a County
Go gently, Autumn,
spilling sunlight out across stone walls,
soothing ancient land
where glaciers scooped our hollows,
piled moraines, and thawed
a legacy of lakes.
Gently.
Life has been the thrust
of this dark soil,
of oak and hickory woods,
abundant springs,
and prairie interludes
where cornfields call
to Angus clustered hills.
Yesterday
the forest echoed Cymric rhyme
(and still of restless year-end nights
a melody is heard—
wind singing old Welsh tunes
in dying oak).
Go gently Autumn,
remembering those quiet country ways,
Savoring the texture of these days.
©Margaret Longenecker Been
1st Place winner in the 1981 BO CARTER CONTEST, Epilogue of a County was published in MORNING IN MY EYES, a collection of poems by MLB—SHEEPY HOLLOW PRESS, Eagle, Wisconsin.
That’s “SHEEPY” HOLLOW, not “SLEEPY”. The publisher (Yours Truly) was a sheep raiser in those days.
I think I’ve posted this poem in past autumns. That’s okay. It fits today. 🙂
