Autumn Poem by Nan Williamson

autumn

late afternoon October yellow
lights still-blooming Contessas
white-tipped petals cup
crimson centres stems warmed
by a brown blanket of curled tender
leaves crab apples hang
softly over-ripe glow
red tempt greedy robins
bittersweet girdles the trellis
strong-veined yellow leaves
sun-shot clusters of orange
berries explode indoors-
final spasm of scarlet seeds

Keats wouldn't have mentioned
the bedraggled garden's yellow squash
lying bruised collapsed in wrinkles

but it pleasures me to see
insects carry off the corpse
piece by piece by piece