Geishas of Autumn

The tulips have danced

and bowed, the daylilies departed

from single afternoons in the sun,

the goldenrod remains as stringy

veins without ore.

A breeze rides like samurai

through the oaks and maples,

herds of severed leaves gallop

across the sidewalk.

Before the goldfinches took tour

they drained their summer

plumage onto the ginkgo.

Beneath the temple of branches

a thousand Lilliputian geishas,

porcelain faces tilted upward,

patiently wait

for their fans to fall.

This poem first appeared in Umbrella Journal