I greet sunrise with Scout
& note our later starts [as
we head into October – a
month of littered Sundays
& a recall of leaf-blooting
into winter’s frayed ways
across our Sussex view –
we only look south in this
part of England] My early
years were meeting every
day with a bag of ‘papers
along my cycled rounds –
empty roads – milkman &
bin man – no others – only
men – an old bodach-way
of doing things [so blokes
were first to stumble]/ & I
let my girl run ahead – we
take our walks – cautious
over rubbed roots & loose
stone paths – we greet all
other early risers with near
conspiratorial nods/ This
autumn’s cooling equinox
aligns sun & equator line –
blink & you’ll miss it – look
ahead into river-run mists
to see how such planetary
machinations affect us all/
We wend into a cooler day