Gratitude Calls on Thursday

Follow the bashful rabbits
grinding down late clover blossoms
grazing a shallow trail toward
home and a darker, cooler realm.

Channel time and manage matter
to warm the sun-screened shuttered
summer-glazed house, to exhibit
September's orangeing trees

ringing overgrown insecurities;
to discover among evil's debris
a still-life panel
where potted copper mums flutter

in gold light cones
atop a grand piano
dressed in flannel
its bone-like keys

brushed by beginners;
where mustard, ochre,
penny tarnish, and rust
framed in a mystery of blue

flush surreal and unapologetic.