Cut with more thought and care
Than summer peonies, roses, lilies pink or white.
Cut with a thought to composition, a leaf or grass fronds here and there.
Conscious of the water clear and cool that shows
The stems and leafy fronds a beauty all their own
High summer has its freedom, barefoot carelessness,
But this a charm, a homeliness that calls forth smiles, surprise
The calm hope that still there is to come, some comfort
Before the end of warmth and winter’s icy beauty.
No, not yet. Here between the sunburn and the glove
A bouquet to honor autum