Lynn Hoggard: “September Shadows Landscape”
SEPTEMBER SHADOWS LANDSCAPE
Trees that bend across the painting’s foreground
dance, gilded by the setting sun
as their branches, flashing red and gold,
lean toward water and sun-dazzled sky.
But among the shoreline trees, the nearest
slants away from water and the light,
leaning backward to the shadowed ground.
Silhouetted in the waves, late-day
swimmers trudge their way ashore as evening
spreads its purple blanket on the bay.
A time of turning, daylight shimmers, slows
its pace, and waits for endings yet to come.
Autumn’s chill will dim the warming sun
and guide this tender slow-dance to a close.
Lynn Hoggard has published six books: three French translations, a biography, a memoir, and a poetry collection (Bushwhacking Home, TCU Press, 2017). Her poetry has appeared in Atlanta Review, Clackamas Literary Review, Concho River Review, Crack the Spine, Descant, Forge, Licking River Review, The MacGuffin, New Ohio Review, Soundings East, Summerset Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and Xavier Review, among others.