Autumn Light

by Steve Dieffenbacher

Here, along the unused tracks,
noisy waxwings disperse
to rejoin in nearby willows.

Beside the muddy road
that frames a dry field
they shake their desolate branches.

On the slope beyond, November gleams,
meadows sheep in painters’ greens,
lightens the grim orchards.

Searching, the eye moves on,
marking a high-planked barn,
tree-fenced with yellow and copper leaf,

while higher still, the season blurs,
hills of oaks burnished dull gold,
too remote to define.