Falling

Surely robust gobblers will soon
Preen and swagger in anticipation
Of their glorious hour

And frantic autumn bucks
Will leap into the rut
Casting away all caution

But the squirrels gather relentlessly
Against the cold foodless days
When the furnace is broken and
When only cardinals and their cousins
Paint the sky with color.

--
Stephen Grimes is a retired lawyer living in a rural community near Birmingham, Alabama. His poetry has appeared in Ekstasis and Voice & Virtue.