November Ballad

A few frames of the first four days of November... I penned the first stanza on Monday, a blustery, rainy harbingerto a gorgeous, sunny week that somehow *pulled its carpet out from under me before I had a chance to return to assemble the lines playing a ballad in my heart!Instead of its original intent of October farewellit turned into a November welcome! below, a few 'carpet-tatters'😅 Leaf-decoupage decks rain-washed walks and lanesYard is a bed with crinkled counterpanesHearth is aflicker with fizzles and sputs Blue jay-bullies bicker, squirrel gathers nutsAnd on yonder slope where corn tassels tossedUmber furrows glisten with tinsel of frost Garden-plots slumber until it is springLast squash and pumpkins are all gathered inShiny red chestnuts shed prickly, brown coatsRiver is dappled with fleets of leaf boatsWoodland is winnowed of whisper and sighLeaf awnings lower to let in the sky Day breaks through molds of gold and amethystLandscapes are lavished with murmurs of mistWind choreographs lone-leaf pirouettesDusk, a brusque backdrop for stark silhouettesEtched on a skyline of shiver and brrEarth, like a deserted amphitheater …After the crowds saw what they came to seeQuietness thunders with chick-a-dee-deeAfter the rustling and rushing of feetSilence amplifies echoes, bittersweetAs if a season of laughter and playWas raked into heaps and trundled away ...while new generations learn toil's ethics Simple as helping to load leaves and sticksFeeling the fervor of favor's delightOf honest labor's hearty appetite Earning the happiness of high fives won (or in this case, jelly beans)Tasting the sweetness of a job well done November nips at hearts, noses and earsWhile we come to grips with the blip of yearsTuning a tug of war, hold-and-releasePainting a minimalist’s masterpieceAfter a palette of color, windblownNovember showcases russet and brown © Janet Martin my childcare-tots inspired this stanza.... they were SO happy to help! ...while new generations learn toil's ethics Simple as helping to load leaves and sticksFeeling the fervor of favor's delightOf honest labor's hearty appetite Earning the happiness of high fives wonTasting the sweetness of a job well done I lamented to Little Lad about howwe were raking up one of my very favorite sounds in the world...the rustle of leaves under feet!So, he accommodated my suggestion of 'saving the sound'💖