Autumn cries its hues, both burnt and hurry-harried –
Fox kit’s brassy exile-cry wassailed on spring’s wind.
Here, too, sloughed straw is drawn out and quartered, carried
Houselessly by goldfinch through canebrake, bracken-shinned,
Where crows shelter in a famine-branch of absence,
Tarry in tarry clumps amid tree-limbs’ smoke-pitch.
The gilded goldfinches flit in flame-tipped chevrons,
A panoramic whole, yet more a part by much
Of house-search, home lust, at the end of all fence lines
Where weathered wood of corn-crib and tobacco shed
Posts fascinations, falling slant with manqué rains
At the end of all fallow fields, marking what could
Make the finch declaim with barren bran, golden tare,
Harvest’s hatch, winter-cinched, abiding by its fire.
Finches’ wings: Check!
But where are the fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls?
I’ll leave those to the Jesuits!
JOB
Much of this escapes me (as does Hopkins), but all in good time … or so we hope! I do like that ending.
And that’s no joke!
I am actually happy to read this blog posts which contains lots of useful data, thanks for providing these
kinds of statistics.