Fall Again spoke to the end of summer, while in this poem, Harris Tobias speaks to the end of fall and the descent into winter.
Root Cellar
By Harris Tobias
The first frost curls the squash tops
The garden has gone to weed
Gray afternoons follow gray mornings
The drying juices withdraw to the root
The sap is flowing again this time in reverse
Hang your buckets upside down
Stacks of firewood grow like mushrooms
Over the porches
The angry snarls of chainsaws drive the birds south
The guttural rustling as the land clears its throat for winter
We try to preserve a bit of the fleeting warmth in cans
While down in the cellar the sun-born roots
Sleep under sawdust quilts
