“Autumn Samples,” Friend, Oct. 1980, 21
Autumn Samples
Bright bolts of gold and crimson
And fleeting saffron, too,
Come tumbling down the hillside
As autumn passes through,
Much like a peddler showing
A many-colored cloak
To maple tree and chestnut
And then to ash and oak.
The brief display’s too splendid
To penetrate the mind.
Are autumn leaves the samples
The peddler left behind?