9

foxes playing

at twilight

autumn becoming winter

goldenrod and cattails

passing ghosts

we all are withering

il ne reste qu’une seule

feuille de châtaignier

la tempête vole l’automne

sur  ses vagues houleuses

de bleu indigo

8

These were the paths we wandered

all our days, always you and me,

every breath blue sky and hearts free.

Now the leaves are turning without you

and I can’t remember how to be.

quand vient l’automne

quand tu n’es plus là

j’y vais rester où tu étais

je vais rester là où tombent

toutes les feuilles mortes

je préfère la lumière d’or

l’air frais et calme

des jours de mon automne

7

the forest wraps me in her blanket of gold

a veil of drifting fog and silence, the far

mountains of ruby leaves lost, my train

memories, jewels of dew on my fingers

I wear autumn as a mantle of ghosts

tu m’as dit

que j’aurais dû vouloir plus

que la vie simple

mais le soleil d’automne

6

skittering leaves

and I

under the moon

the owl’s vibrato

through sleeping pines

autumn’s cello

5

between scarlet leaves

red spider

weaves autumn

season of memories

autumn be kind

to this old woman

4

gingerbread deer

lose themselves

among caramel leaves

across my path

the sparrows

more slight than falling leaves

yet just as petulant

in the wind

3

River Birch

autumn opens a door wide

within me

so the dreaming begins

she sets me pining

the ache won’t still, she

bleeds longing into me, it is

ever this longing in me

like the salt is in the sea

2

I loved

the meadow grass is yellow ochre

just over the old bridge you loved

the rich scents of autumn in the air

the tang of earth and woods

you’d raise your head to breathe in

sunlight caught in your brown eyes

the blue heron you loved rests

on the shore of our lake  

we circled here so many times

the trees reflecting red and gold

I’ve come far along this path

you loved, our path, the walks

we walked for ages but never enough

I don’t want to keep going anymore

without you by my side

it’s too empty with me alone, I’m

too heartsick, too homesick

for you my friend, I loved

you were my home

1

autumn day

handfuls of gemstones

this season of dreams

wildflower honey

and maple syrup colors

autumn feeds my dreams

©Susan Zegarsky 

Coming in October

©Susan Zegarsky 

Coming in November

©Susan Zegarsky 

Coming in December

©Susan Zegarsky 

1

silent forest

after the first snow

still as this crypt

witches circle

over the barren hill

silver winter moon

2

Demonologist

In whose waters am I drowning?

Who among us will I  save?

With what wine do I forget what I forgave?

In what tongue would I love you?

In whose land am I digging my grave?

3

silent night

I sing to mom

snow on her grave

4

Worse things

there are worse things

than your bloody wounds

there are worse things

than the blood in my veins

this obsession, like drowning

in a lake so long frozen over
there is no breaking through thick ice

to breathe air

5

autumn turns to winter

this life I live now

alone

photos on the floor

half remembered words

the weight of ghosts

6

crystal ice

at the edge of the river

winter begins

stars above me

valley below me

loneliness absolute

7

Taker

you are a taker, you took

me by the throat, you took

my tongue, my wishes, you took

the life right out of me, took

your own soul, thrown into fire6

8

winter tea of cinnamon

orange, cloves

this old spell for comfort

bright birds on white snow

memories of happiness

in this coldest place

9

Lord of Misrule

white blood of cruel chill blight

creeps into bones cracked to bare marrow

devil of the bitter barren your burying brume

blankets our moments in resolute omens

your specter breath lies fast feel the frozen snap

obscures this shattered light so misled we wander

your soul a shell of absence soundless

hollow like the clear ice of a ghost apple

numbing glaze that hardens this ghastling earth

while dear birds die of hunger

10

rain hums the words I write

in the dead of night

I reach for the mourning moon

empty home

heavy rain

heavy heart

11

the pines reach

to the stars

I’m lost

under this sky

12

morning birdsong

after winter snow

a melody of cellos

13

silent snow in the dead of night 

stars like ice

winter spirits drawn in to rest

in the firelight

bitter wind bites to the very bone

oh cold heart

brood not, the dead come home

we're not alone

14

I light all the candles

against the storm

that surrounds me

15

dark tea, a bright fire

against the winter chill

don’t we have it all

quiet winter evenings

she’s been gone

so long

16

icy winter night

bitter voices or bitter wind

ghosts of memory

echo within 

17

for the telling my own ghost story

a bleak winter night, blizzard snow growing deep

my time ran out like so much sand, I ran

not even velvet winter darkness dared hide me

that devil chased me down in the bitter cold

took me by my frozen hand and shushed me

put me to sleep 

18

going home with gifts

evening snowflakes decorate

my headlight beams

how I loved snow

on Black Forest pines

a candlelit Yule, home

19

black and white movies

inside, outside

white snow and black sky

white quilt of snow

first winter storm

covers their broken bones 

20

ghost stories

by firelight

I didn’t believe

until the dead of night

the light pales days

are dark and cold seeps

into bones waiting for light

21

Blinded

looking out across Alps                                           

brilliance of winter sun on ice blinding sight

I remember the pure endless snow   

and you colder than mountains rolling in white

icy lies as hollow as a dead man’s sigh

the love I will never know

but I miss the light    

nightmares

in the velvet dark

of the longest night

all the world dead

black and snow white

all the world

singing for the return

of the golden light

22

Extinction: The Sixth

the sun rose over the mountain pines

this morning before being blanketed

by snow clouds and now it is quiet with the snow a stillness

like a shush of comfort  I am a mountain child clouds

and hills rolling away below me like misremembered dreams

fresh fragrance of balsam and cedar juniper berries in my hands

snowflakes freeze in my open eyes and the clouds are still heavy

but I wonder where all the birds have gone

if there is another living creature here

I cannot see it

23

pumpkin and persimmon

became winter brown and bleak

I put my faith in the coldness

of the snow

I kneel to give dad his gift

a fresh Christmas wreath

propped on his gravestone

24

it’s the cold white season

of ghost stories

memories like ghosts

the dead creep closer

holding their broken hearts out to us

bleeding, in their bone white fingers

what angels gather here this liminal night

the earth is frozen to the far curve

and silent like a bird that has turned itself into

sorrow

to flutter through the pines like a shush of snow

25

nothing

can lull me to sleep

the sky bejeweled with embers

the night showered by the silver light

of Orion’s stars

yet within remains

the infinite dark

26

stars like snow in space

you are missing 

this dead midwinter

pines are specters

in the opalescent fog

this sorrowful winter

I have not been certain

where dreams end

27

The dead will find their way

home. I feel the slick ice touch

across my skin, the famished

breath upon my neck and how I want

to hold on, breathe on here in this life 

but the air is empty and loss is the sound

of my whispered name.

after the holiday

the house so wide

so still

it is so dark

there has never been

any such thing as the moon 

28

Asomnia

awake by night

searching stars falling into snow

trying unfailingly to drown

to ease the lightning in my mind

but how the burning lights up the night

29

long grey walks

under white winter sky

quiet memories

the dead creep close

these silent nights

our guilt haunts us

30

the silver light

the moon rains upon earth

when night is deepest

ice crystal air

opal wisps wind

among sparse branches

the sun too pale

to chase the fog

31

I’ll always love the fog

on the low moor, wisps

in the frozen morning, phantoms

more forgiving

than the ghosts of deep night

silent forest

after the first snow

still as my home, this crypt

January 1, 2024

winter morning, new year

black dog shakes stars from her back

snow keeps falling

©Susan Zegarsky 

1

old ouija board

spelling the shadows

into life

2

darkness

black as ink, pierced

by eyes of stars

3

skeleton chuckles

the light chatter

of windblown leaves

4

crows, indigo waves

swell in shadows

of October forest

5

scarlet leaves fall

drops of blood bright

on dark earth

6

skeletons clapping

stark bare branches

clack in the autumn wind

7

my ghost awaits

in the dark folds

of velvet night

8

rain on dead fields

tears for  

the dying earth

9

something sinister

in autumn fog

the veil thins

10

midnight wind whispers

a half-remembered

ghost story

11

black clouds hide

October’s full moon

sinister omen

12

storm clouds, no moon

deep October dark

a devil is afoot

13

mists cross the moor

rolling waves

of ghost sea

14

the mirror

smiles back

what have I summoned?

15

the trickster smiles

oops, you’ve sold

your soul

16

pouring a salt circle

to keep out

the unseen

17

a chill in wind

the presence

of phantoms unseen 

18

sunny days long gone

it’s my autumn now

I am the crone

19

ecstatic bats

ride moonbeams

this magic October sky

20

wind through the tombs

the quick approach

of ghouls

21

alone in the woods

fast footsteps

across the cabin roof

all my bones

have turned

into screams

22

shadows

of windblown leaves

all the Halloweens past

at the devil’s crossroads

I wait for him

under the wolf moon

23

shadows prowl

the cool October night

ghosts of witch cats

24

there were no bodies

left whole enough

to bury

October night sky

all the light I see

is already dead

footsteps rustle near

the scarecrow

runs

25

an evil unseen

lurks in October darkness

thieving souls

chips of bones

broken headstones

you grave robbing ghoul

26

forest mists

haunting memories

so many specters of autumn

27

the palm reader

winces

at my life line

28

one’s skin

can often be

ill fitting

swirls of falling leaves

autumn breeze don’t we

have it all

29

the dead whisper to me

cruel secrets

of the still living

30

this year we grieve

so many of us dead

autumn of phantoms

the ancient language slips

off forked tongues

night of the jinn

31

last night

of a dark October

black magic in the air

©Susan Zegarsky 

1

bright yellow leaves wave

at clear blue skies 

beloved September mornings

2

yellow leaves tumble

through golden sunbeams

September smiles

Chanceuse

le hululement du hibou

le vol des chauve-souris

la lueur des étoiles filantes

mille bénédictions de ce monde

que je comprends à peine

ou pas du tout

3

sunlit memories

of long ago autumns

my only treasures

4

haunting melody floating

in fall night air

unseen coyotes following me

mes rêves rayonnants

n’étaient jamais aussi muet que

mon automne mourant

5

warm light

brisk wind

September sings again

6

autumn morning awakening

sunbeams, the smell of maple

and pumpkin spice

ruby, garnet, gold

amber, citrine, sapphire

the bright riches of autumn

7

September sun

I bathe in warmth

to carry through winter

8

at the forest’s edge

deer friend

enjoys autumn berries

remembering

how our black dog loved

the jump into autumn leaves

9

waving in the wind

sunshine yellow mums

welcome autumn

10

familiar comforts of autumn

a map of heaven

my heart memorized

11

memories fall

in silent rain

tears of autumn

12

yellow butterfly

admires my autumn mums

of a lesser yellow

13

gingko trees

harvest moon

golden autumn symphony

14

behind the mountain

of scarlet trees

my orange harvest moon

15

autumn afternoons

daydreaming of kisses

under golden sun

16

my orange harvest moon

shares the night sky

with my dreams

17

silent confidant

what companion more true

my silver autumn moon

j’aimerais vivre

où la lune est toujours blonde

est tu es loin de moi

18

the moon

pierces autumn fog

with moonbeams of dreams

19

early autumn thunder

rolls

over red hills

20

white owl bursts

into the autumn sky

which silver is the moon

21

red leaves and friends

chatter

across the stone street

22

leaves born by wind

race the clouds

across barren fields

23

observing

my nighttime wanderings

the owl and the moon

24

falcon

on the haystack

bittersweet autumn

25

old woman

prays to autumn sky

tears of loneliness or rain

26

frost

black elm

red wet autumn

27

end of autumn

slate grey heavens

threaten rain

28

leaves tumbling away

the gusts

already winter cold

the wasp nest

is hollow now

like my autumn days

29

autumn ends

it grows darker

inside and out

30

after autumn

remember I loved

the scarlet leaves

après-midi d’automne

je rêve de bisous

sous la pluie

©Susan Zegarsky