Sweet Nostalgia

Sweet and acidic, the flavours
of fall fragrance accompany
our late September forest hike
through and around the sloped
environs of a mountain landscape.
The green shield of hemlock,
pine and spruce a verdant contrast
to the brash vibrancy of dogwood,
sumac and maple foliage, fiery
red as though in angered protest
at the annual humiliation of
their winter-forced defoliation.
Their defiance with the sunburst
gold of birch, the burnt umber
of beech and oak, presents a
marvel of autumnal mosaic,
treating our vision to a yearly
feast it has never tired of
devouring. A Whitethroat sparrow
trills its song, already yearning
for spring's return even while
it is routed by survival's unerring
instinct to depart, joining the
arrowed flocks of geese regimented
southward. Fall's advent is a 
timeless event of shared nostalgia.