Poetry Please #3: Fall Song

A few words for chilly autumn days

One of my favourite poetry anthologies, the beautiful work of Mary Oliver

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries – roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay – how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

- Fall Song by Mary Oliver

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Welcome! It’s our third edition of sharing a weekly poem and honestly, it’s bringing a huge amount of joy. For those who might have stumbled across this post, this is a commitment we’ve made to while away the winter evenings. On alternate Tuesdays, Gabby and I each discover a new poem and read it aloud to the other. Today, it’s my turn and I’ve turned to Mary Oliver.

In true Mary Oliver form, this piece conjures up the most vivid images of nature as we drift towards the end of autumn. The 'uneaten fruits crumbling damply in the shadows’ is such a powerful description, as is the invention of the word ‘unmattering’. We’re instantly on a gentle stroll in the outdoors, noticing the apples and pears strewn on the ground around us, being reclaimed by the ‘black subterranean castle of unobservable mysteries’. Such an evocative way to describe the magic of life beneath our feet.

It’s a poem that benefits most from being read aloud, as you begin to notice the ‘s’ sounds that resonate throughout each line. It’s a noise that’s familiar to any autumn walk, as you scuff and ‘ssshcuch’ your boots through the fallen leaves.

It’s a lovely piece, a perfect reminder of fleeting moments of glory as the earth cycles through her yearly rituals.

How did you find it?

Till next time,

Jack