Early October In Burlington

Gold-washed autumn has descended these hills 

like some conjured bit of wicked magic, 

stilling the green-wreathed leaves in their festive sway

to send them sailing to a colder soil;

they gather littered in storm drains and 

at the edges of driveways,

crisp and crackling.

Night-dark steals in a little earlier than before,

and the highways clear of all vacation traffic

as if an alarm has sounded somewhere,

indicating swift retreat.

These later hours stay tinged by woodsmoke and rust,

curling through the parted curtains

of upstairs bedrooms, 

as the earth slumps away from the sun.