autumn in the air
and everywhere
the light of Vermeer /s

children back to school
waiting in front of the drawbridge /i

day moon
a train rolls through
the empty station /n

Fries Museum display
an old tarnished menorah /b

* * *

Mendelssohn spills
into the crowded street
from an open window /j

how easy to fall in love
with a perfect stranger /s

late night hotel
the call to my wife
rings and rings /b

under the restaurant sign
a spider grabs its prey /d

the outline
of a snowflake
in a TV ad /i

a canal skater
adding grooves to grooves /n

* * *

puzzled
by the beginnings of time
near the heart of the trunk /d

the smell spreads
from the old drawer /i

pulling me into the shadow
she crosses herself
before the embrace /n

blushing redder than
her apronful of tomatoes /j

blue morning sky
the bottom half missing
from the summer moon /b

in the lost and found box
a single pearl earring /s

* * *

no intimacy
and the strong voices
from the party /i

eider ducks have returned
to the same spring ocean cove /b

a hero's welcome
sweeping up cherry blossoms
and confetti /j

back to life
soft winds and fresh colours /d