October Heart

by Ben Rasnic                                                                        

Time of year
light fades quickly,
a southwest wind scatters

leaves of brittle vermillion.
Hybrid shades of auburn
embrace the good earth.

Shadows flare
from jagged snow-capped  peaks,
frame windows facing west.

Light filters to absence;
enter darkness
of days gone by.

Thinking of distant
people, places,
beyond & before;

night train passing
sustains a lonesome refrain,
takes me traveling,

clutching memories like ticket
stubs, mapquest highlighting
destinations along the road life leads me.

Fifty-nine, then again
stroke of midnight past Halloween
brings sixty,

shadows flickering
in the hollow flames
of butchered pumpkin skulls.

Growing old-
er than years, sometimes don’t know
what keeps me moving--

perhaps the serenity that is the Chesapeake,
the stillness of white sailboats
against a pale blue sky;

or night trains wailing
a blues mantra in the distance
that takes me somewhere beyond

misty miles of dark terrain
& glacier sheen of plains
where the light lifts gently over the hill;

thoughts of
finding place
to call home.