(for the first day of fall)
By Annette Marie Hyder
Previously Published in NewsPaper Tree

all the skirts and dresses
flutter, flip and flap in the wind
like colorful birds
like bunches of butterflies
like leaves skirling
or clouds curling
clouds of silk, rayon, polyester and cotton
billow near the ground
pillow out from slender waists
or gallop like horses
around legs
are streams of fabric
running across knees, babbling over thighs
laughing and teasing of carefree days

but it is autumn now
and those who know can see
that the skirts also sway like bells
tolling november
hair rises on the wind
in warning
faces pinch and eyes shut
like the closing of a book
and the posture of those out on the street
on this blustery day
sends signs as clear as any found in almanac
they are bent forward and struggling
against the hard wind blocking their way
as geese make patterns like tea leaves
on the empty bowl of the sky