Autumn is here, rustling all of the leaves
Soon ’twill be time to take care of the eaves
Last time we didn’t, we paid a big price
The eavestroughs were clogged, a magnet for ice
~~
And speaking of leaves, I’ve had cause to wonder
Why don’t they stay near their trees over yonder?
Why does the wind blow them into our place
Why, when around them is so much free space?
And speaking of wind, there’s a shutter gone loose
Far up near the roof, nearly high as the spruce
And if it should fall, it may land on our heads
Or just fly away as we sleep in our beds
~~
And speaking of beds, there’s the garden to tend
And errors we really must hasten to mend
Those wild strangling vines and the tough creeping Jenny
You put up with one and you end up with many.
~~
And speaking of errors, that tree we bought little
Has outgrown its place — but is fit as a fiddle
Too big to dig up but too nice to chop down
Which leaves us between both a smile and a frown
~~
And speaking of digging, some pesky wild thing
Has me gathering stones, and I’m ready to fling
It’s digging  our daffodil bulbs from the soil
It’s making a mockery of all our hard toil
~~
“You terrible wretch!” all my dignity’s lost
(Those bulbs must be planted before the hard frost)
“You do this once more and I’ll wring your foul neck!”
But Squirrel just smirks and says: “What the heck?”
~~
Cynthia Reyes 
Such a sweet shower– of verses demure–
around all the hardships to acclimatize,
that I am most confident, somehow quite sure
all will be snug before the snow flies!
I love your reply!!! You keep making me laugh this week.
Love the whimsical poem and the gorgeous photo!
I forgot to credit Hamlin for that photo. Glad you like it, Madame Photographer!
But Autumn brings color along with her breeze. She’s getting Mother Earth ready for the coming freeze. She lays a blanket that covers the ground to keep your bulbs warm as they sleep safe and sound. She also brings promises of hot apple pies and the beauty of pumpkin patches galore. :o)
I love this. I’m sitting here grinning as I read your poetic reply.
Thank you for the delightful giggle, Cynthia. And praise to Hamlin for the lovely picture. Creeping Jenny really can misbehave like a creep. I can relate to all of this. A storm warning made me gather hydrangea to dry, but of course I never checked the gutters—priorities you know. 🙂
Blessings ~ Wendy
I love the idea of you giggling, Wendy. In fact, that made me giggle! I like the idea of Creeping Jenny as a creep – it IS a creep. And yes, my dear gardener friend: I know about priorities….
🙂
Lovely poem, rhymes and musings on the magic and misery of autumn. 🙂 Somehow by the end, I had the story of “Twas the Night before Christmas” in my head? Maybe “Twas the Night before Autumn Equinox”…
Thanks for the smiles and creative sparks Cynthia. I might have to go rhyme a while. 🙂
Your poems are true poems, Brad. Soulful creations. Mine are mischievous rhymes. And now you have me wondering if The Night Before Christmas was in my head as I wrote ….
LOL. I wanted to write a clever poem as response but my muse wouldn’t cooperate. XD I enjoy your playful rhymes and may return to writing some. I’m glad we enjoy each others writing.
So nice to see fall. I don’t get much of that here. And your words, just too cute, and a reminder of all I love/hate about the season. I don’t miss fall chores, but keeping the pool going year round is quite a task.
Ah, pools. How we love to swim in them, how we hate the upkeep…. The trees in fall really are dazzling. We drove through a grand valley today and I still gasped in wonder at the stunning colours.
Very funny. I am getting the same cheek from the blackbird!
But you’re too gracious to gather stones for the throwing! If I ever hit one, I’d be in tears, but thank goodness my aim is bad enough to simply scare the little blighters.
Not sure about my graciousness but I do give the blackbird some leeway because he sings most beautifully.
Aha! Well, our squirrel does not sing. S/he does smirk.
Oh, very good – I wish I was a rhymster too! Every season brings its blessings and its curses it seems 🙂
Do you know how I started writing in rhyme? My language skills were very bad after ‘the troubles’ and to force myself to expand my vocabulary, I would write word after word till I had a sentence.Then I’d force myself to do the second line, but this time the end word had to rhyme. They were total nonsense, but I bless those rhymes.
Lots of smiles here, what a witty ode to autumn. Also rueful chuckles, we have a roofer and a painter beavering away against the clock to weather proof this dear old house before the wet winter sets in.
Kate: We are all rushing against the clock right now, aren’t we? After all, who knows when the very cold weather will arrive?
Very apt words! With the reverse seasons “Down Under” we’re going into spring so it’s lovely to read about autumn and see your charming photos!
I do think I should live down under in our Canadian winter and come back here to Canada for the spring! Happy spring to you.
Sounds a good plan! I find February especially can be a tad hot for my liking though it’s a Mediterranean climate here in Perth so the humidity isn’t high. Most of the year it’s lovely 🙂
A fun post. 🙂
Good, Derrick. After your being sick and those terribly strong winds battering parts of your garden, I’m glad to make you smile.
I loved this, Cynthia! We’re still waiting for our leaves to change. Beautiful photos!
Ours are changing, Jill, with some maples already ablaze with colour. Isn’t it a lovely sight? What is your region?
Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site and commented:
By the lovely Cynthia Reyes.
Thank you for reblogging. I’m honoured.
You are very graciously welcome.
I have no poetic response…I just like it!
My dear girl: This isn’t poetry, to speak of. It is just rhyme!
Lovely photo and a great poem…I love fall so much!!! have a great weekend, xo Johanna
I love Autumn so much too, Johanna!
What the heck, indeed 😉
Honestly, you should see their faces. No fear of me and all my threats.
A witty autumn poem from you and colorful autumn scene from Hamlin! I love the collaboration of word and picture!
We have squirrels, but we don’t see too many of the tree squirrel variety. Years ago, coming home from work one night, a squirrel ran out in front of my car. I clipped the poor critter, but he wasn’t dead. I scooped up the poor little thing and put him in a box, thinking I would take him to the local vet for euthanasia. Little did I know he was not as bad off as I thought, and he was quite awake and “squirrelly”by the time I reached the vet’s office. They directed me to a wildlife rehab center, were he was taken next. Identified by staff as a male California ground squirrel, he spent the next month with them recovering from a broken leg. They called me and said he was all healed up and ready for release, hopefully a location near where he was picked up. I got permission from the farmer I knew who lived near the spot where I had hit this poor critter, to release him there in a field away from the road. I named him “Barney”, after the famous Barney and Betty Hill UFO abduction. I figured his experience must have been the closest thing to an alien abduction from a squirrel’s point of view. I can picture him trying to explain his month long absence to his wife back in the burrow. Knocked senseless by alien ship, beamed up by alien, taken to foreign planet where medical procedures were performed, kept for observation along with other hapless species, finally dumped off in field. I can picture her sitting there, looking at him and believing none of it. 🙂
Lavinia, you have a wonderful short story there from a squirrel’s point of view. Get cracking, young lady, and enter it in a short story competition!
Delightful poem. Oh, those squirrels! Ours try to steal our peaches from the tree every year. They do haul away oranges from my neighbor’s tree.
They really are thieves. I hope you get some peaches after they are done stealing.
Wow! Those colours are wonderful. I love to see them. Here in central Italy there isn’t enough difference in day and nighttime temperatures to stimulate any colour.
But milder temperatures, Christina! Ah, that’s looking nicer as I contemplate the harsh winter of which we’ve been warned by the Farmer’s Almanac…
We’ve been warned it might be a cold winter here too but it doesn’t usually last very long and it is often sunny even when it’s cold so you’re right I wouldn’t want to swap with you.
I like autumn colors ! In french we say : hot colors
Les couleurs chaudes? I like how that sounds, Christiane.
Yes, it’s a nice sound ! Have a good day !
Lovely photo and great poem – made me smile
Glad it made you smile!
What a delightful ode to fall! I can just see you flinging those stones. Your falls must be very beautiful. From our coast we must drive several hours to see fall foliage. Good luck on keeping the squirrels away!
Thanks for the good luck. Our early fall is very beautiful. Late fall is usually cold and the days are too short!
What a lovely poem, Cynthia. We’re into Springtime in my little corner of the world but I’d love it to be Fall again now (our Summers get far too hot) 😀
Thank you, Dianne. I like Autumn and Spring best, but this summer, though hot at times, was actually pretty good here.
A little hardware cloth over the bulbs will stop that.
I’m going to try that. I also have human hair that I should have buried with the bulbs. Never thought they’d disturb the daffs, which is why we plant them. Yesterday, someone else suggested emptying the contents of the vacuum cleaner and pouring a bit in each hole. Ever heard of that?
I haven’t ever heard of that. I’m not sure what it would do.
I wonder if you use bone meal on your bulbs. I stopped using it because it attracts animals. They dig them up to get at the bone meal and you find all your bulbs untouched and lying on the soil surface. Superphosphate will stop that from happening.
Haven’t used bone meal in years.
I love your poems Cynthia! This one gave me such a giggle – which is just what I needed after a trying day!
I’m glad the post made you giggle! I read a poem by Cynthia Jobin the other day that made me giggle out loud too.
I love a laugh!
I think our squirrels say the same thing.
Naughty little wretches….
let your dog out for a chat!
Great idea, till the squirrel climbs up the tree and smirks at the dog too….
One of my dogs is really diligent!
I’m always happy to see one of your poems, Cynthia! You are so good at getting the rhythm and tone just right. My mom used to write similar fun and whimsical poems and I know it isn’t that easy to do.
I really wish I could write serious, soulful and skilfully woven poems, but I never did get the hang of it, so I settle for silly rhymes, which make me laugh!
[D] “that tree we bought little Has outgrown its place — but is fit as a fiddle.
Too big to dig up but too nice to chop down – Which leaves us between both a smile and a frown” This set me up for the rest of the day!
Glad to hear that! Thanks for visiting.
I’m smiling as my list of to-do’s grown for Fall.
Oscar
Oy vey. Plus all the others we haven’t thought of yet, right? Hope you and yours are all well, Oscar. I’m just catching up — daughter’s wedding, out of town guests and all.
Ther virtual world is for when we are not involved in the real world. Enjoy her wedding (shall I read about this later?)
I loved this so much!
Thank you! Hope all goes well.
Reblogged this on Serenaded Softly and commented:
I enjoy her blog so much. She is such a thoughtful and inspiring author.
You are so kind. Thank you for reblogging, Theresa.
As much as I enjoy their antics, I agree with you on those squirrels now, Cynthia. They are digging up everything everywhere burying nuts, and there seem to be many more squirrels than last year. Good luck with all your chores – hope you’re having some mice sunny weather to accompany you.
Or nice sunny weather … that would be better, I think. 🙂
But I liked mice sunny weather. Why’d you have to go change it for? (big smile coming your way…)
Mice or nice – whatever makes your chores go more happily. 🙂 Of course, I can see a small chorus of mice standing to the side serenading you with harvest songs while you work, so maybe mice …. )
Thanks for the giggle. Yes, mice for sure.
I love the way your exasperation in what there is to do turns to humour 🙂 Still, it gives me a sense of the cosiness of autumn, preparing to batten down the hatches for the winter to come.
I like that. Autumn does bring thoughts and feelings of coziness. Woodfire, hot cider or hot chocolate, woolen throws, a good book or laughter with friends. A great time of year for us northerners.
Autumn falls
Result in sqalls
But here in Spain
Once again
We plant to gain
As we sow
Our crops will grow
Gah! I hate rhyming poems 😀
Well done, well done!
You made me smile on a wet miserable morning.
Glad for the first part, sorry about the second part, Marie. I’ve been out of touch – too much going on – but will visit your blog soon.
I think you wrote that poem directly for my life. Such fun words with true meaning for most of us. Wonderful read for a dreary Monday morning! Tina
Well, I always look for the bright spots, especially in Autumn and Spring, so this time, I decided to think about the less beautiful chores associated with fall! Good to hear from you, Tina. Happy Autumn.
Marvellous! Leaves always end up where they shouldn’t! Naughty squirrel …
I say worse than “naughty squirrel”, but perhaps not quite fit to print….
Beautiful writing and photos, thanks for the smiles. Squirrels sure are pests they will not hesitate to give themselves treats from my garden.
Merciless robbers, but how are they to know we “own” the land, eh?
Thanks for visiting, Norma, and for your kind comments.
Delightful. I loved this poem, Cynthia. A perfect rhyme for autumn 🙂
And I thank you very much for that compliment!
Although a nuisance, all these pesky issues fall can bring, it’s a delightful poem. 🙂
So something good came out of it, eh DG?
Always a silver lining, right? 🙂
Haha, it is difficult to argue with a squirrel. You will probably have to bribe him. Sunflower seeds may be? 😉
You could be on to something.
Well if this is one of the nonsense poems you were referring to, I love it! The way each stanza refers to the line above. I think it’s not easy to write good rhythm and rhymes and i love them.
…and my master gardener friend says to plant a piece of chicken wire above each bulb. I asked him in desperation after a little chipmunk did the same with my crocus bulbs.
Thank you for liking it! I’ll have to try out the chicken wire. I honestly never thought the critters would unearth daffodils, because they don’t eat them (as far as I know…)
No they just dig them up to be ornery 😬
Autumn is by far my favourite time of year. I have many posts about autumn so I would appreciate it if you would check out my blog: http://thelifeofautumngirl.wordpress.com
thanks! 🙂
Ah that ‘too big to dig up but too nice to chop down’ is the story of my gardening life!
So true got to love the pesky squirrel
Reblogged this on Cynthia Reyes and commented:
Just came across this fun nonsense poem and I love it so much, I’m sharing it!
Fun poem.😉
Delightful, Cynthia! I think your brain works a bit like mine (thought yours is much more creative!): one thing reminds you of another thing which reminds you of yet another thing, ad infinitum! You were so clever to turn that autumn-train of thoughts into a poem!