Sample from Book

Andante and Coda

How quietly green summer changes now 
To faded gold and brown. This time of year 
Birds have travel plans. In trees I hear 
Sharp chattering. Such joy should disallow 
The chill that presses on the door. Bright bough 
Bends heavy with fruit and promises. Good cheer 
To all who tremulously turn to wipe a tear 
For songs unsung and old flames burning low. 
Red-gold fingers reaching toward the blue 
Of autumn skies write large of new delights. 
Take heart, and by the wayside, wistful ones, 
Find apples in the grass, and scarlet hue 
Of berries blowing, and fire on frosty nights 
In jack-o-lanterns, before the winter comes. 

The poems (or earlier versions of them) in this book appeared in the following publications: “Night Rain”, “Class Reunion” and “Flute Concerto”, Branches, Volume 4 (Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute); “Woods Walk” and “To Anne, At Hever Castle”, Branches, Volume 5; “If I Dare”, “Retired Domestic Worker Dead at Ninety-Three” and “In Time of Rain”, Branches, Volume 6; “The Novelist” and “Light In the Shadows”, Branches, Volume 7; “Apricots” and “Crossing the River”, Branches, Volume 8; “To Meet Your Eyes” and “The Spring I Love”, Tides, Volume 3 (Women’s Resource Center, University of Richmond); “Bibury” (under the title “An English Garden”), Award-Winning Poems, 1997 (North Carolina Poetry Society); “The Turning of the Year”, Award-Winning Poems, 2000  (North Carolina Poetry Society). 

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