Fall Arrives in the Finger Lakes

The poets always say “if”
The mosquitoes say “now”
Exchange is a puzzle

**
Up river empty houses
Lean in the wind

**

When writing
Add footnotes—
George Washington
Spilled blood over there

**

By those birches
People tried in vain
To silence anxiety

**

Tattered maple tree
Squandering light
With its falling leaves

**

The summer has been dark as a bed

**

The poets always say “if”
As in: if the soul gets loose

**

When I close my eyes
I see Winter’s mask:
Gold animals