Autumn on the Coast

In this place autumn is

the time when plants,

gone dormant in the summer drought

awaken, soak in the welcome rain.

On this crisp day my fingers ache

to dig into the soil

make the earth ready

for new plantings

that their roots might

deepen through winter

to be ready for spring.

With the dust now washed

from the summer’s debris

it is a good time for clearing and

I itch to drag dead limbs

from the forest floor

clearing pathways

and vision ways

between the stately trunks

beneath the branches

that the full vibrancy

of the woodland

may rise and shine.