the snow didn't stick —
we stuck our tongues out 
anyway

I wait for feeling
to come back to my fingers —
almost December

a wren's call
trickling down as if someone
poured the day too fast

what might we treasure
if one more end was nearing?
(snow in the forecast)

gingko leaves —
I drag my feet for the pleasure
of stirring them up

we tell her this fog
isn't even our thickest —
desert visitor

snack break —
gulls drop shells onto the road
to crack them open

fresh cranberries
floating in a flooded bog —
more than enough

a strip of water
just deep enough to reflect
as the wave pulls back

your voice 
at the end of the day —
my favorite blanket

music floating skyward
like sparks from a campfire —
backyard drum circle

a screech owl's calls —
the only sound left after
we shush the neighbors

past when we can see
and through the night as well…
golden leaves falling

sunlight on frost —
a fox walks casually
through the burning bush

which ache is this
deepening with the cold?
November losses

walk her home again
after she's walked you home —
no one wants an ending

we open the door
to hear which songs have stayed —
this quiet first frost

night sky sinking in
bare branches black on blue —
something takes over

ready comfort
when hope twists in on itself —
your hand on my cheek

only the mums
are left to tell the story —
how blossoms looked, once

sun-soaked world beating
to the slow open and close
of monarchs' wings

mid-November dark —
we fill in what we can't see
from memory

sounds of ice scraping
sliding out over the day —
winter drawing close

the little dog I found
while out on my walk was lost
three doors down from home

the farm stand lines up
a summer's worth of honey  —
this season's last sale

why do I recall
every word of the song
that played as she left?

even the wisteria
stops trying 
to extend itself

air that stays cool
even as it fills our lungs —
we quicken our pace

stretching Hallowe'en —
we leave our giant spider
dangling one more night

end of season work —
we turn the hedge trimmings
into a hiding spot