Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Autumnal Reflections

When the leaves are golden and the sky washed blue,

Walk into my woods amongst the maples.

Listen to the wind tickle the birches.

Follow a path under a bower of branches

Over a bridge to a mirror pond.

Where reflections cast murky depth,

Abstraction is more vibrant than reality.

27 comments:

Les said...

Lovely pictures, lovely poetry!

Tracy Golightly-Garcia said...

Breathtaking pictures and I love the poem!

Best
Tracy :)

Anonymous said...

Dear Sarah, What a treat to walk with you into the woods. I could almost hear the crackle of leaves underfoot and could smell the crispness of the air. Oh, to have been able to have sat down in quiet contemplation by the mirror pool. Perfect!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

a delight to share your walk! love the last reflections - it would be beautiful enlarged and hanging in a special spot ...

A Cuban In London said...

"And abstraction is more vibrant than reality".

I'll take that one with me. Many thanks. Enjoyed the tour and the photos. :-)

Greetings from London.

D said...

Beautiful and poetic post Sarah. One might think you were a writer. ;) I felt the crispness in the air.

walk2write said...

Thanks for giving me something wonderful to dream about! I can imagine the leaves dropping on my head and shoulders as a breeze shakes them loose.

troutbirder said...

Oh my what a wonderful set of pictures and poetry to accompany them. Our fall leaf panorama was not quite up to its usual standard this year. Still, on a more prosaic level, our farmers report an all time record breaking corn crop. Yellow gold I guess.

Sarah Laurence said...

All, thank you! It’s nice to get such positive feedback on my verse as often the flashier photos steal the stage.

Bonnie, I only have a couple of my landscape photos framed in my house although I’ve sold them to others to hang in their homes. It’s hard to find wall space in my house. I do enjoy looking for abstraction in nature.

Troutbirder, it’s been the best crop of vegetable and berries in Maine this year. The maples are brilliant but the rest are a bit brown or faded. It’s all due to the dry, warm summer although we’re having a wet fall.

Stacy Nyikos said...

These are such gorgeous photos. We are just heading into fall here. The leaves have only begun to show a little color, but we get the most amazing sunrises in Fall and Winter in Oklahoma. I've never seen anything like it. A sky bursting with oranges and pinks that almost hurt your eyes. I love Fall!

Rose said...

Beautiful, Sarah! I love the poem, and the images are perfect. I can see myself getting lost in thought looking into that reflecting pool. Thanks for such a day brightener!

Donna said...

I love this! The fourth picture is my most favorite. I love pathways through the woods like that. Gorgeous!

TBM said...

Sigh.

Thank you for these beautiful autumnal photos, Sarah. I wish we'd get some vivid leaves here!

Amanda Summer said...

simply stunning words and images......birch trees are my favorite --

and the last image left me breathless.........

Keri Mikulski said...

Gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

Sarah, I like the picture with the reflected tree very much and the last two verses as well. I would connect them together saying: Where reflections cast murky depth, abstraction is more vibrant than reality... :-)

Sarah Laurence said...

Stacy, do share some of your sunrises and foliage.

Rose, I reflect on reflections.

Donna, that path is my daily walk and it changes every day. Now the path leaves are more golden, edging towards brown.

JAPRA, I missed bright autumns while in England too.

Amanda, those birches and the second reflection were actually shot at a second pond, just a bit farther on my walk from the first pond.

Keri, thanks.

Petra, you are right! The comma works better than the “and.” I will also need to add a period/full stop after mirror pond. That way “where” modifies “abstraction” instead of “pond.” It scans better too. I don’t usually change a post, but I did. I’m so impressed that you can read a poem critically in a second language.

Carol said...

Beautiful post Sarah! Gosh, every photo is like a rich fall painting and your last one takes us out into the galaxy. Stunning!! Your words are inspiring and lovely along the way. ;>)

Anonymous said...

Sarah, it's my turn to be impressed! I didn't want to be critical, I just felt it that way and wanted to share my point of view with you. It's great that you have seen it the same way. :-)

cynthia newberry martin said...

Just keep posting these stunning photos. I'm living vicariously. And how did you get that last one?

Cid said...

Gorgeous. Our leaves have fallen and the season of grey begins, although we had a sprinkle of white on the weekend. Sigh ...

Paul C said...

I like the idea that the real beauty in life can sometimes come obliquely. Are we ready to see and understand it?

Elenka said...

LOVE that last photo. I am really not looking forward to winter and snow and crap. I'm a summer gal.
But it does get pretty in the snow, too, I have to admit. It just lasts so dang long around here!

Sarah Laurence said...

Carol, thank you!

Petra, the best part about blogging is the feedback.

Cynthia, I was standing on a bit of a hill above the pond and zoomed in. The photo is exactly what I saw without alteration. I looked for natural abstraction and enhanced it by leaving out the trees that created the reflection. The light wind made the ripples.

Cid, most of our leaves, except the brown oaks, are down now too. No snow yet but we are getting light frosts overnight.

Paul, beauty is there for those with time to reflect.

Elenka, the last photo was my favorite too. Grey and brown November with the hunting keeping me out of the woods isn’t my favorite month in Maine either. Bring on the snow and bright blue skies!

Bee said...

I wonder how many of these vibrant leaves are still on the trees? Most of ours have blown down in the last week . . . moving on to the next phase of autumn!

All beautiful -- but I like the reflections and abstraction best of all.

Sarah Laurence said...

Bee, it’s not just the leaves that are falling. Yesterday’s noreaster left 60,000 without power from fallen trees on power lines in Maine. Luckily we kept our power if not our leaves. Just a few brown oaks are left. It’s nice to look back on this post (and yours) to remember the color.

Hana Njau-Okolo said...

My gosh that was a vibrant Autumn. I want to jump headfirst into that mirror pond!