Saturday, October 16, 2010

burning leaves


the orange-brown scent
of burning leaves

a sweet and gentle smell
filled with spring frosts
and birdsong
the thrumming of sap
rising to the heat
of a summer day
the red and gold
of early autumn
now curling
into pure white ash
and slowly rising
on a slender thermal
that wraps itself around
the mother tree
on its journey
to the sky


11 comments:

alaine@éclectique said...

That's what I love about a Spring bonfire - next week!

Reya Mellicker said...

Love the smells of fall. I've sniffed the delicious aroma of woodfires the last couple of days. Yum.

steven said...

alaine - for me it's an autumn bonfire. memories of those extend back to my childhood. steven

steven said...

reya there are people on my street who burn wood and of course when i'm out biking i smell the wood all the more. the smells of autumn are thinner, i guess because of the cooler even cold air. but the smell of woodsmoke reaches through the thinness and fills me not only with its scent but with rekindled memories. steven

Meri said...

"the red and gold
of early autumn
now curling
into pure while ash"

to the end of the poem
just makes me
float on a current
of delight.

elizabeth said...

such a splendid evocative poem.....

such remembered images
but triste too.
am off to Italy where there is lots of weep-inducing woodsmoke.
loved your comment to Linda sus

is there something in the air? sending warm thought s your way.....

hope said...

The mere aroma of burning leaves makes me want to return to childhood... where it was perfectly normal to want to jump in a pile of leaves at least three times BEFORE Dad set them on fire. :)

Ah, memories.

Caroline Gill said...

Wowed by your photography, Steven ... enhanced by those complementary colo(u)rs, the blues and oranges.

Linda Sue said...

LOVE the flames- I just want to burn stuff, now I don't have to...your blog has saved the neighborhood once again...thank you, the neighbors thank you..
The whisps of smoke passing the mother- that is a rather sad image unless I put it in some reference - like kids smoking in the basement...then I can handle it- anger is more comfortable territory than sadness. Maybe that is what the Autumn wind is about...

steven said...

the golden fish has done a public service!!! usually it's just about calming people down but to avert a tiny catastrophe - well there's a new angle.
yeah it's really windy - really windy. steven

Golden West said...

We had fires going inside all weekend - a small luxury that makes life all the sweeter.

That blue in your photograph paired with the orange is a knockout!