Autumn<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You know how the world comes at you like that?
\nYou\u2019re driving down some tree-lined street
\nwith Vivaldi or Corelli
\nlilting their way from the radio.
\nThe sun casting prisms on the leaves,
\nthe leaves easy in their fall.
\nAll questions have quieted.
\nYou are convinced that even the asphalt is happy
\nto be what it is: solid, stoic, the backbone of a day.
\nUp ahead the next three lights are green,
\nyou are passing the school yard at St. Paul\u2019s
\nand all the kids in their blue and green uniforms
\nare bright angels, bearers of light.
\nThere goes Stone Way Cleaners where they are steaming and pressing,
\nsteaming and pressing just for you. The world is stuck
\non go, proceed, avanti. No one could imagine
\nhow enlightened you\u2019ve become
\nin the cabin of your car, on the rim of tears
\nwith your velocity of awe, your clarity at the wheel,
\nyour rapid rolling toward some small truth, on and on like that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tina Schumann\u2019s poem “Autumn” originally appeared in Harpur Palate<\/em>. Her manuscript As If <\/em>(Parlor City Press) was awarded the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize for 2010. Her work was a finalist in the 2011 National Poetry Series. She received the 2009 American Poet Prize from The American Poetry Journal and honorable mentions in The Atlantic Monthly 2008 Poetry Contest as well as the 2010 Crab Creek Review contest. She is a Pushcart nominee and holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University. Her poems have appeared in various publication including The American Poetry Journal, Ascent, Cimarron Review, PALABRA, PARABOLA, Poemeleon, Raven Chronicles<\/a><\/em> and San Pedro River Review<\/em>. She lives in Seattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Autumn You know how the world comes at you like that? You\u2019re driving down some tree-lined street with Vivaldi or Corelli lilting their way from the radio. The sun casting prisms on the leaves, the leaves easy in their … Continue reading