AUTUMN CLEARANCE

Nasturtiums burn

beyond the wreckage

twisted brambles

sharp as barbed wire.

I lug, 'bugger'ing as I stumble

to pile the stabbing stems

of buddleia cut from the sky

onto a steep heap

High growing Summer

Beans climbed like magic

hollyhocks rocketed

colour blazed. Amazing.

But now growth slows

and I must snip and saw

through the old wood

to feed the bonfire

and clear the ground

for Spring

- on prose with my chaperone

M Smythe 80