Autumn’s Army
I drove out to West Gloucester along Concord Street
and found a spot where one of the many little creeks
that form much of Essex Bay floods the marsh and,
at high tide, gently meets the roadbed.
It was there, at that exact spot, that autumn,
having slowly and silently infiltrated from the east
confronted the last remaining troops of summer
across the tranquil reflective pool.
On the west bank stood the trees of summer,
looking somewhat pale and worn, but still
wearing the green uniform of forces
that have seen days and nights of glory.
On the east massed the army of the new season,
resplendent in the colors of its order
and resting before fording the flood to
take the retreating enemy in a display of brilliance.
I’ll drive out to West Gloucester along Concord Street
in a few weeks to see how autumn’s army is getting along.


Beautiful photo. Weird autumn we are having. The green leaves are just falling off without changing color. Haven’t had a decent cold night to turn them orange.
In 1986 we had no summer. Maybe in 2011 we will have no fall and winter. Time for a swim?
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I want to follow you
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Thank you Marty Luster! Took my breath away…….
I don’t know which is better- the photo, the poetry, or knowing you’re not making this stuff up. This little corner of the earth really IS that gorgeous.
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Stunning shot Marty!
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Just beautiful, thank you.
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Good eye, Marty.
Note to Paul: I heard the reason the leaves were falling so soon, w/o changing color,was because we had such a wet spring, they got a blight (fungus?)
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Yes, I echo Lois’s post; both the photographs and the commentary are just beautiful.
Thank you…..
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Thank you all very much. The truth is that it’s hard to take a “bad” photo around here.
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gorgeous!
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