A shallow valley
in the northeast,
bushy lemon corn shocks
dissolve into deep gold
missing the moiety
of themselves only four weeks later.
Faint gray fog
whispering above corn fields
and retention ponds,
protecting them from
the bitter cold
soon to come.
Scarcely any fields
turned for the winter,
by months end, predominately all will be prepared
for winter frost and snow.
Everything within sight
stained white and immoble.
The annual cycle continues:
Late spring frost in mid-May,
planting crops in early June
for harvest by mid-August
into September.
The sumac has started its slow burn.
The shallow valley in the north east
continues this ritual
into eternity.