HELEN B Cruickshank catches the late season of the year, and of a life, in these deceptively simple lines, written in English, though she was equally at home in Scots.
Her Collected Poems were published by Reprographia in 1971.
WOMAN IN AUTUMN
Late bees trouble
The last of the clover,
Bare is the stubble,
Harvest is over.
Under my feet
The wild mint's breath is
Poignant, sweet,
As summer's death is.
Now by the park
For a moment linger,
Lips fruit dark,
And bramble-torn finger.
Ploughs are started,
Seagulls follow,
Where once darted
The dark-blue swallow.
The sharp blade tears
The stubborn field.
What will next year's
Harvest yield?
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