My Human Disguise.
For Ruth
When the ground rises up to steal
The autumn leaves and the maples
Grow taller as they become bare,
The cloud-entrapped sun becomes still —
Its new diminished light dapples
The hustling squirrel’s leaf-red fur.
Chestnuts and buckeyes pack twig nests.
The burrowing chipmunk resists
The inner call to sleep so strong
He must chase his siblings or sing.
I too change, cooling with the air,
My heart walking on hands as far
As the end of the avenue
Where I turn and return to you.