A sun dipped in gold

Melting on purple mountains

Citrus-painted sky

*

Speckled in the sky

Stars twirling with milky wings

A picture of night 

*

One bloodthirsty sun

Leaking its veins into blue

Soaking the sky red

 

Scarlet capes of leaves

Bronze dancers in the crisp breeze

A fall melody

*

You and I embrace

As the logs consumed by flames

Crack apart and die

 Whispers from the wind

A ribbon of pink petals

Carried into dance

*

She keeps to herself

As the lotus closes in

Bursts of fine color

Photo courtesy Hillary Jones

 

The Huntress

 

We set her free

 

an outdoor spirit

 

never to be tamed

 

We watched her roam

 

around the gardens

 

searching for random game

 

“Huntress,” they called her

 

devourer of souls

 

born from the coaly earth below

 

soft as stardust

 

dark as the night

 

quiet as the whispering willow blows

 

Be careful, we warned them

 

don’t look in vain

 

at fleeing for your life

 

Our huntress will come

 

and take you away

 

with claws as slick as a knife

 

atop the hills

 

beneath the hedge

 

within the baby ferns below

 

around the house

 

balancing a plank

 

as a hellish pirate’s prisoner goes

 

The day is now done

 

she returns to us from

 

her jungle world outside

 

The rabbits sleep

 

the birds nestle in

 

the little ones run and hide

 

And I now sleep

 

with the huntress tonight

 

a cat purring on my bed

 

who could’ve stayed out

 

to delight in more hunting

 

but chose my company instead