Sailing

 
 

Autumn afternoon—
 
though my boat has sprung a leak,
 
I am sailing home.

Treasure

 
 

at the jumble sale
 
an old man finds a treasure
 
someone thought was trash

Rustle

 
 

autumn afternoon—
 
the rustle of show tickets
 
instead of dry leaves

Marigold

 
 

one dwarf marigold
 
still alive and flourishing
 
after the first frost

Kite

 
 

Snagged in the treetop,
 
my daughter’s brand-new red kite
 
poses as a leaf.

Soldier

 
 

A lonely soldier,
 
thinking of autumn back home,
 
still sticks to his post.

Treasures

 
 

autumn afternoon—
 
lifting my childhood treasures
 
from a dusty box

Repairs

 
 
 

on the brass doorknob
 
a spider repairs her web
 
this autumn morning

Flattened

 
 
 

autumn afternoon—
 
window box of marigolds
 
flattened by the frost

War

 
 
 

at the next table
 
a husband and wife at war
 
staring at their phones