"Rudens," watercolor by Viestarts Aistars.
So opens another October:
with serene and golden face,
its blush still a secret kept close
to the aching of a summer heart,
as yet undiscovered. Autumn undresses
all the wounds of previous seasons
exploded, lush and vulnerable,
raw and naked to a thousand eyes.
Unashamed of its fiery suffering,
an honor well earned, if not deserved.
Denuded limbs soon exposed
to opening sky,
to be dressed in the white veils
of the sanctified.
