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SONG OF AUTUMN
by Fernando M. Rivas
copyright © 2001



Ludlow Press Poetry

Song of Autumn






The bare trees
sift the wind
rake the winter sky
and plead.
There is no reply
only this red morning light
and the desperate throes of the City waking.
These same rhythms
these same words, day in, day out
and every moment another one of us
expelled
receiving life with gasping open-mouthed screams.
So many of us now.
So many lost and unfurled across this hard blue sky
like banners, multi-colored
proclaiming a stance
chemically biologically here
risen from the dust of ages, the dust of angels
risen
again asking
will the snow make a clean slate?
A question for the trees
naked shivering biological models of our own genes
stopped
DNA replicating these same patterns
planets moving in thousand year orbits
we helpless in this quick senseless dance
over before the musicians have even warmed up,
still we are moved to ask again:
will the snow make a clean slate?
Measure my steps across this field
mark my memories as crucial
I am so like the oak, giving you depth and greenery
only to be murdered viciously by autumn winds
until I plead silently with the sky
awaiting no reply
red morning light
and the desperate throes of the City waking.

Fernando M. Rivas is a Cuban-born composer, arranger and producer.
Mr. Rivas has composed fourteen musicals and hundreds of songs. His work was featured by the Theater Communications Group when he collaborated with Maria Irene Fornes and Tito Puente in 'Lovers and Keepers'. He has composed for the popular show Sesame Street for singers as diverse as Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan and Cindy Lauper winning two Emmys and a Grammy along the way. Email: Rivers2750@aol.com

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