Magical Touch to Autumn

By Vanaja Malathy

rugged mountains 
pose still to the daub of golden paint
as the aspens stain the rockies 
splash to smear yellow and gold, lace orange and red  
a canvas of spectacular view 
beautiful landscape turns into a dreamscape
I stand in ecstasy and elation
lost in the mesmerizing, magical beauty of aspen’s art
of awesome autumn. 

i climb down in a trance
sudden gust of strong winds blow
so fierce and so intense 
rip the golden leaves down 
strip the trees to their nakedness,
the cliff and the crag, the range and the ridge
stand ashen, pale and stupefied
heaps of leaves roll under my feet 
i trample them to their burial
life gone in a flash
 
life is fleeting, 
              the limited time
                        we humans exhaust in constant anxiety of death
the aspens display their best
one life nature has granted them
that's the only perfect time to ‘live it’

i spot a single aspen leaf afar 
amidst stones
lifted it gently up…
protected under its golden heart 
a tiny little dew droplet 
looks at me meekly.

Quaking aspen, i salute thee 
A tree of heroes.

A PhD holder and an educator from India, and a lover of fine arts, now settled in the US.  Vanaja Malathy has published in:

The Nightingale Poetry Journal, The Poet’s Showcase, Poetrynation.com, The New International Poetry Digest, Academy of Heart and Mind,  The South India Times, and The Literary Yard, Interview in Author Talks.

Centre of Asia Pacific Initiatives ( CAPI ) University of Victoria published her short story and poems in Anonymous Was A Woman and TMYS Review Dec 2023, available worldwide via Amazon and Barnes & Noble as ebooks and paperbacks.