“Michaelmas” – poem by Christina Daub

Michaelmas

Let each leaf fall,

let the lower self sink

back into the earth,

into the breath

of the dragon

slumbering

underground.

Slay and scythe.

Light wanes.

What’s left

in dark furrows

rests, releases.

Night encircles.

Stoke the fire

and take stock.

Give the rest away.

—Christina Daub

Christina Daub co-founded The Plum Review, a national-award-winning poetry journal, started The Plum Writers Retreats and The Plum Reading Series which featured Joseph Brodsky, Carolyn Forché, Mark Strand and many others. She teaches creative writing and poetry and is widely published—see www.christinadaub.com