AUTUMN EQUINOX POEM
HARVEST
Ere this Autumn turns to Winter,
Favour from the Gods we ask.
Weak we are, and ill provisioned:
Fools set at a hero's task.
Man or woman, warrior, scholar,
All must labour with a will.
If we wish to see the springtime
Each will need their every skill.
Orchard trees revert to forest.
Fallen leaves on bending grass
Hide rich windfalls for our gleaning.
Search the hedges as we pass.
Shrivelled pears and withered apples
Autumn's gift to man and beast;
Ripening rosehips, frosted buckthorn:
These will grace our winter feast.
Seek for fungi in the forest.
Find, perhaps, a rich reward:
Bitter beechmast, luscious hazel
In the squirrel's hidden hoard.
Seek out game that roams the forest.
Blade and shot and tangling snare
Give us meat when snow lies deepest:
Rabbit, squirrel, deer and hare.
Still and silent on the streambank
Tickle trout from shadowed lair.
Gather books to learn their secrets:
Wisdom snatched from grossling hives.
Find, concealed in mouldering pages
Knowledge that will save our lives.