I have been wanting for a while to make an Autumn song and somehow catch in sound the feel I have for falling leaves and for what is cleanly revealed in the naked shape of the trees. At the same time I have been reflecting again on why one writes at all. So much is beautifully shaped already and given by God, why should one try to shape it again in writing? And yet each day begins again the urge and calling to renew the rich connection, the covenant of word and world, to make, and then to walk, the airy bridge between our island minds, so that another self can say, ‘you feel it too’!. This poem rises out of all these things; an Autumn song that also feels its way, I hope, into the mystery of what is written, on the leaves of pages and of trees.
The photo is one I took on the banks of the Wear in Durham on the day this poem was composed. as usual you can hear me read the poem, and its preface, by clicking on the title or the ‘play’ button
And Is It Not Enough?
And Is it not enough that every year
A richly laden autumn should unfold
And shimmer into being leaf by leaf,
It’s scattered ochres mirrored everywhere
In hints and glints of hidden red and gold
Threaded like memory through loss and grief,
When dusk descends, when branches are unveiled,
When roots reach deeper than our minds can feel
And ready us for winter with strange calm,
That I should see the inner tree revealed
And know its beauty as the bright leaves fall
And feel its truth within me as I am?
And Is it not enough that I should walk
Through low November mist along the bank,
When scents of woodsmoke summon, in some long
And melancholy undertone, the talk
Of those old poets from whose works I drank
The heady wine of an autumnal song?
It is not yet enough. So I must try,
In my poor turn, to help you see it too,
As though these leaves could be as rich as those,
That red and gold might glimmer in your eye,
That autumn might unfold again in you,
Feeling with me what falling leaves disclose.
Sublime; the final stanza for love’s unfolding and disclosing each to the other.
Thanks Susan
So very beautiful! It tapped into something deeper inside of me and brought forth tears. Thank you.
Thanks Katie, its good to know the poem worked that way, for that muracle of connection from mind to mind in the feel for beauty us itself the subject of the poem 🙂
t’s scattered ochres mirrored everywhere
In hints and glints of hidden red and gold
Threaded like memory through loss and grief,
So needed help in seeing that – just have faced one death and are heading into another in a short time. Thank you
Thanks Adeline so glad it helped M
Beautiful poem, well wrought. I like the form also and the gentle, unobtrusive rhymes and half rhymes. Well read too. Thanks Malcolm.
Thanks John thats very encouraging and thanks too forvyour email-will reply soon and send some terza rimas
Love love love this. I feel exactly like that watching the leaves fall and rain down on this hill in Tennessee where I’m writing. Shoot me your post address so that I can mail you a book I set aside for you.
Thanks for this. Lovely.
Many thanks. Will send address ( sorry i thought if already done so -mind like a seive!)
Love the poem and love the question you ask in your introduction to it. Why write at all? Perhaps Luke’s Mary has the answer? We “magnify” the Lord? Blessings Malcolm! I give thanks for you every time I read your work.
Patrick (Trinity Church Boston)
Thanks Patrick. Yes I think one reason for writing is to reflect back to our Father what we see of his world with thanks and praise.Indeed, an earlier draft of this poem ended with the image of a child holding an autumn leaf up to his father and saying ‘Look!’
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I just love this sonnet. To me, in a discussion with my partner, this seems to represent being content with what we have and with each other; and that we are content with what God graces us with each day tgeough our senses and our hearts. Wonderful 💜
Thank you
Hi Malcolm! I met you in Ambleside at the CMI conference last May. I live in Abu Dhabi and am missing the colors of autumn. I searched the Internet for some poems to read and fill my mind with beautiful color. I needed to feel the beauty in my heart. I found this poem. You have taken me with along with you on your walk and I am thankful. Thank you for giving me this gift of red and gold. It is enough.
Thanks!
Thank you so much, such beauty brings tears to my eyes
Kathy
Thanks