The First Day of Fall
(in memory of Rick Hall)

…on the unsettling balance of the interplay of
too-powerful forces of darkness and light…

The reaper walks up the street,
a long, lanky dog by his side,
heading to the sharpening shop,
old scythe in hand.

Without thinking, he crushes
some grains of rice on the sidewalk
by the courthouse steps.

His dog stops for a moment,
catching the scent of songbirds
up in the poplars.

The sun is shining now.

Yesterday evening,
its rays caught a horizontal rainbow
to grace the green hills to the east.

Those storms moved on
but stopped in one place
for too long in mourning
and let loose a deluge
to wash away a bride’s tears.