November

Christopher Dewdney
From:   Demon Pond. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994.

November is the month of introspection,
of solitary walks to mysterious places.
It is a month of abandoned barns
and empty railway crossings.
Pale fields under pale skies.
November's transparent light
illuminates the dreaming landscape,
the blue autumnal mist.

In November the encounter
of winter and summer is
languorous and contemplative. They
cohabit gracefully, naturally,
as if they'd always
been together.

On unseasonably warm afternoons
the faded November sunlight
ignites a ghostly summer
in the branches of the willows.
A greenness where summer
still reigns.

November is the month of vistas.
The gaze is free-ranging,
unimpeded by dissembling foliage.
It is the month of ocular reverie.

Moss thrives in November.
Its greenness deepens
in a vernal expansion as it claims
what territory has been relinquished
by its perennial competitors.

November's wan light
is perfused with
the pensive satiety
that follows all celebration.
Green apples adorn
leafless branches like
forgotten ornaments
while a single November rose
blooms under winter's
neurological trees.

From Demon Pond by Christopher Dewdney, published by McClelland & Stewart, The Canadian Publishers. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

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Christopher Dewdney's works copyright © to the author.