November Woods

 This poem, by Patience Strong, is one of my favorites for this time of year, ushering in the transition of the seasons.

Lovely are the silent woods
on grey November days,
when the leaves fall red and gold,
upon the quiet ways.
From massive beech, majestic oak,
and birches white and slim,
like the pillared aisles of a cathedral
vast and dim.

Drifting mist like smoking incense
hangs upon the air.
Along the paths where birds once sang,
the trees stand stripped and bare.
Making Gothic arches, with their branches interlaced
and window-framing vistas
richly wrought 
and finely traced.

It is good to be in such a place
on such a day.
Problems vanish from the mind
and sorrows steal away.
In the woods of grey November,
silent and austere,
Nature gives her benediction
to the passing year.
            Patience Strong