color preparation

autumn in the air

filtering summer’s brilliant

whites and yellows to warm

rather than sizzle-hot

as though through burnt orange lens

readying us for greens to re-dress

in red, umber, beige, muted gold

buttery browns, even blue

the colors of a fire in the hearth

in preparation for winter

january, too, will pass

after seven and still pre-dawn

january whispers and howls

its own dark way

but days will grow shorter

frail green stalks will lift

from under soil to begin again

the cycles of determined life

that sustain us without praise

me central

the sun rises directly east of my desk on my birthday

each year i watch the season-causing wobble as sol creeps

along my wide horizon, south for the winter warmth

and north in summer for respite from brown drought

it is like the moon’s path directly toward me across the water

i may not be the center of the universe

but I can see how some people could convince themselves they were

of many greens

 so many intensities and hues of green

lime, jade, khaki, sea, bottle, emerald

pale near white, sickly gray

greens barely lifting from yellow; and those leaning hard on blue

jubilant greens with silver bellies flashing joy in the caress of the wind

tall, stately, haunting forest greens

mocking takeover blackberry leaves

with stems of thorns bruising black and pricking red to mimic ripening fruit

tender blades, fragile with new spring

tough corn husks, tanned brown to protect luscious yellow kernels

summer-suffering dirty, gray-brown

greens begging for autumn rains

evergreens dotting fields of snow

promising myriad greens if the rolling seasons continue to come

               Forest Grove to Lincoln City

anticipating autumn

anticipating autumn

haiku

pines bend to the wind

gossip mountain laurel will

soon bare soul—and branch

            mjNordgren  7/20/22  Welches