Autumn at the cabin has taught me some people see no need to wait for hunting season. Need I say more?
Northwoods Sunday
Quiet as an empty church
without congregants.
Party-going crickets, leftovers
from an all-nighter, hum in their cups.
A coiled snake on a paver soaks up
contentment.
Remnants of faraway forest fires
cloud the vault.
Unseen midnight deer strip
crabapple branches bare.
Notes of geese flying high haunt
in the air.
Rifle retorts shatter my reverie,
flip-flop my stomach
in this cathedral without sanctuary.
Marilyn Aschoff Mellor
