Air of November
by Denise Levertov
In the autumn brilliance
feathers tingle at fingertips.
This tingling brilliance
burns under cover of gray air and
brown lazily
unfalling leaves,
it eats into stillness zestfully
with sound of plucked strings,
steel and brass strings of the zither,
copper and silver wire
played with a gold ring,
a plucking of crinkled afternoons and
evenings of energy, thorns under the pot.
In the autumn brilliance
a drawing apart of curtains
a fall of veils
a flying open of doors, convergence
of magic objects into
feathered hands and crested heads, a prospect
of winter verve, a buildup to abundance.
