Crunch of dead leaves beneath boots
first of October
sun's lit saber swoops the treetops
slashing at eyes
I can list all the things I did today
but lost track
of all the things that did me
the one who walks to places
though I don't belong to any of them
Eunice Williams Drive's
fresh paved tar mist smolders & already striped
with a streak of struck possum
A maple fell all the way across Green River
& at Murphy Park Katie hit
a triple & then Autumn got on first base
primed to steal second
Even though there is no you for me
still there's this place
I'd love to take you
I've only ever been here alone
The Secret Stream I call it
though there's strangers'
sparkly graffiti
all over the stones
Maybe we could wade in
or even slip below the cool
surfaces before
all the leaves die
Daniel Hales
Daniel Hales is the author of the hybrid novel, Run Story (Shape&Nature), ¿Cómo Hacer Preguntas? or How To Make Questions: 69 Instructional Poems (Frayed Edge), and three poetry chapbooks. He makes music with The Frost Heaves & Hales, The Ambiguities, and Umbral.
