November

We're deep into fall, now.
Past the first blush of color,
The return to school,
The first game of the season.

Past the tiny costumes
Clattering up my steps
To ring the bell, all excitement.
The candy is gone;
The giant spider has been put away.

Now, leaves once red and gold,
Fluttering like flapping flags on breeze-tossed branches,
Are brown and grey, curled and crunching beneath the scamper of squirrels
Keen to hide the season's treasures before retreating to their winter nests.

Fall has gone from crisp to cold
Bright blue skies, free of summer haze,
Will soon yield to clouds, grey and low
And gravid with calm, silent snow.

The days ever dwindling,
Until the Solstice stops the night's advance
And lets the day begin
The long creep back in. 

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/boxelder-autumn-fall-rural-farm-216372/
Free use image