Days of Autumn

Autumn Beatitudes
by Charles Kinnaird

I am happy with the leaves.
Let them fall
And let them be.
Let there be no stench of burning,
No dissonant noise of leaf blowers,
But let them rest on the ground
Covering a thousand footsteps of summer.

I am happy with beans.
Dried beans in the pantry
Assure me that there is bounty in the earth
And that the world is latent with possibilities.
I am happy with the way they swirl about
in the rinsing bowl
Like hundreds of prayers
On unstrung rosary beads.
If ever I am unsure of what to do next,
I can always cook beans.

I am happy with the sharp clear angular slant
Of the afternoon sunlight,
Reminding me that there comes a time
To slow down.
A time to not think.
A time to settle
Like autumn leaves on the ground.
Like beans in the bottom of the rinsing bowl.