the first evening of autumn.
a soft rain.
not the clear skies of kawase's print.
but soft all the same.
in the softness a welcome.
the smell of soil and leaves.
as if the earth said
"kiss my hand,
and taste the work of my day."
this evening.
the spattering of gold light on the roadway.
the first gift of autumn.
this gift,
settles first in my eyes
as soft shards.
in my heart,
the rain flows to the river,
the river flows
lantern lit
under the north star
to the sea.
night at sengakuji hasui kawase
in my soul . . .
see how clear and bright
is the moonlight finding ways
through the riven clouds
that, with drifting autumn wind,
gracefully float in the sky.
25 comments:
Nice post, Steven. The change of seasons peels back a dullness from our perception of the environment. And rain sure does cause inward reflection. I like your words, "softness of a welcome". What a great way to describe the satisfaction of coming together.
Hi Steven
a lovely and enchanting trilogy
your words
kawase's ukiyo-e
and the poem
Happy days and autumnal nights
Your photograph of the headlights in the rain is beautiful. You've reminded me of some pictures I took last winter, from the car at night. I might post them soon. Thanks for your thoughtful comments on my blog, too.
hello richard!!! it's interesting that even though the calendar says it's autumn it's actually hotter and more humid than it has been since - mid august! however, the trees are working towards their beautiful changes as is the rest of the natural world. you can actually feel it. thanks for visiting. steven
hello delwyn, thankyou for the nice compliment!!! i'm really looking forward to watching and sharing my bloggy friends wonder at the seasonal change - down under and topside!!!! have a lovely evening by the river. steven
hi rachel - i love the way colour plays in water. i've loved it since i was a little boy in england and saw my first christmas lights in the centre of manchester. damaged for life!!! have a lovely day. steven
I just love Kawase's artwork. I can't even imagine what it would be like to see it in person. Lovely post. I like the words and thoughts a lot.
About the squirrel...
She told me, I think, when she finally stopped on the window sill outside and showed me one side of her face and then the other. It was, to me, as if she was saying it was time for me to do my thing. It was a decision I regret in some ways but think it is part of what I do here for wildlife. I have to accept the good and the bad with the beautiful. But it is never easy.
I love the soothing scent of wet soil and leaves. Happy Autumn to you, Steven!
Living in Canada with our dramatic seasonal changes, means we never have a dull moment.
Even when the seasons get all confused as they have this year.
It rained yesterday here too. The first day of fall and a front blew in dropping the temp from a high in the 90s of the previous day to a low in the 60s yesterday. always amazes me how fast it can drop.
An Ode to the First Day of Autumn :) I wish we called it Fall here ; it's really just called No More Summer. Or Where Was Summer...
Have you ever been to Japan?
I see you are reading The Time Traveller's Wife - an absolute favourite of mine. I look forward to hearing your review of it (do you ever review books on your blog?). Peace this autumn day.
How beautiful! You are such a poet, Steven. You have the heart and soul of a poet. Thank you.
btw, I left a reply to your comment on my post yesterday.
steven - where do you find all these beautiful and meaningful words - every day I read them and get such pleasure from them.
That gold light really does look like a gift! Yesterday, at dusk, I was driving when I notice three trees turning color (one orange, one yellow, one red) . . . and I thought that sight was my first gift.
I think that I feel the seasons more keenly as I get older -- but also because I get to share them with poetic, reflective people (like you) all over the world.
Barry and I have made a plan to spend next week in Huntsville. I know the weather continues to be unseasonably warm, but I hope the leaves are at least beginning to change. In Huntsville they are usually past prime by Thanksgiving. Maybe the rain will help to cool things down a little. Your rain poem and fall ideas were so soothing to read. Thank you for giving me relaxing words and pictures to view while I drank my tea this afternoon. My cousin from Campbellford is visiting tomorrow. Happy autumn, Steven.
hi abe - i'm so thrilled that we see kawase's artwork with the same awe!!! i think that what you needed to do for the squirrel was an act of unselfish care because you suffered to help ease her suffering. you're a good man abe lincoln!!! steven
hi willow thankyou. my first memory of wet leaves was as a little boy in england when i sued to go sliding on the long flat gravestones in the churchyard next to the school i attended. in the autumn they would be slick with rain, leaves and the occasional slug. have a lovely evening at the manor. steven
barry - it's so true! everything's mixed up and there's tastes of the traditional expectaions fulfilled and then tastes of the other seasons thrown in as well. it's a real banquet for the senses!!! i wonder if the smaller animals feel something of the same confusion?! have a lovely evening barry. steven
hi ellen - wow that's an amazing weather change!!! was it welcome or an irritation?! steven
hello shaista - lovely to see you here. isn't that funny - you see i'm originally englaish and usually call it autumn but "fall" has something more dramatic and visual, metaphoric even about it than autumn. but i love the oh-so-englishness of autumn a little bit more...... i've never been to japan. the relatively little i know about japan tells me that what i want to see and experience is much the same as i would in england. a world that is tucked away in little places. the outer worlds of england and japan don't appeal to me at all. but the little places. the very old. the gentle. the real.oh they talk to me all the time!!!! the time traveller's wife is so beautiful to me. i am reading it in small amounts. to allow it to be a place and a set of colours in my day. have a peaceful evening. steven
reya - thankyou. when i was nineteen and leaving for university and not knowing that my year would be spent listening to music, drinking and doing everything my parents asked me not to. when i was nineteen i wanted to be an artist, a musician, and a poet. not for the lifestyle - really who would choose that?! as much as for the flow of whatever needs to be said through steven. your compliment is an act of such generosity!!!! have a sweet dc evening reya. steven
hello weaver - i'm very fortunate. i wish i could tell all my visitors how really excited i am to find these words and images, to take photographs that excite me, to read books and think "man that's incredible thinking or perceptive insight . . . . " i love preparing my posts as much for my own experience of them as for the joy they bring to the incredible group of people who visit here. have a sweet evening in the dale. steven
hello bee!it's lovely to know that you've been here! i've had an acute sense of fortune for a very long time in terms of seeing what i see, experiencing what i experience and feeling fortunate. gifts - well each morning i wake up i say thanks. really i do. it's such a subtle piece - i wake up, feel groggy, have coffee and stop. "thanks". another kick at the can! bloggin has brought me close to a group of people who see the world as a magic place, the human condition as a precious gift, and life itself as something to be questioned, laughed about, cried over, read, listened to, but especially celebrated no matter what. and we all have varying degrees of crap to deal with. some of it shows up here but not much to be perfectly frank because really this is a place where we can say -"hey i love me, i love you, i love this world". not quite what you were expecting response to your lovely comment is this bee?!!!!! steven
linda - i envy your smarts in booking these gorgeous weekends away with the barry man. the colours will be good. you'll see. you'll smell the leaves on the ground. you'll love the skies.
campbellford - well i've been through a heap of times on four wheels. it's a beautiful town. really truly! the area it's in is so gentle.
i am truly happy for both of you. these are times when deep connection rises above the time of day, time of year, time of life. have a peaceful evening. steven
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