-This poem reflects on autumn rain restoring color to a sun-bleached fence, while a clinging leaf, a blurred pasture, and water moving along the wire reveal the landscape changing under the weather.
The rain comes slant across the yard,
and cedar boards turn brown again,
their silver faces drinking in
what summer weather bleached away.
A maple leaf is plastered flat
against the post beside the gate,
its red gone dark around the veins,
its stem still pointing toward the tree.
Beyond the slats, the pasture fades,
the cattle soften into gray,
while beads assemble on the wire
and travel downward one by one.
At dusk, the western edge grows clear,
pale light returns along the rails,
the rain slips east beyond the hedge;
one drop lets go beneath the gate.