The State Fair is over, school has started, the weather is changing and, as of this week, Autumn is officially here. With it’s sparkling clear days, riot of color, crisp cool moonlit nights and a hint of something magical in the air, fall has been my favorite season of the year since the days of my youth, although I can never fully articulate why.
My sister, Koreen, is the same way and both of us struggle to put its particular spell on us into words – but we try! Nearly every autumn for the past 40+ years we have collaborated on a fall poem, in an effort to express why we delight in the season and three years ago I shared in this space one we had written after my move to Nebraska in 2022. She had also lived in the Cornhusker State for several years and taught music in Morrill, so the poem we came up with described some of the aspects of fall that we felt were unique to Nebraska. We called it “Nebraskautumn.”
In commemoration of the start of Autumn this year, I want to share with you last year’s poem, in which we attempted to describe our collective angst in attempting to put how we feel about fall into words on a page. It’s entitled “Sublime Struggle.”
That time of year has come again,
When I take up poetic pen,
To try to scratch some words in rhyme,
In hopes to capture thoughts sublime.
My pen still flows with molten gold,
And warms the heart that’s turning cold,
Ere winter’s icy fingers bend,
And leave their claw-like scars again.
For Indian Summer’s sweet reprieve,
I’ll watch and wait and still believe.
But if it tarries and winter blasts,
‘Til spring’s warm breezes come at last,
Then I’ll savor sun and blossoms sweet,
And wait through summer sweat and heat,
‘Til dear old Autumn comes ‘round again,
Then try to pen its mystic yen.
Happy fall, y’all!
RON BURTZ can be reached at newsregister@ hamilton.net