The Fifth Season

Under the bardo of the sheltering sky
mist and fog cleave earth from heaven.
The green  liminal land  abscission’s itself- 
shivering swallows from boughs,
causing the wiltering river reed
to bend away from the first frazil ice—
and the grazing horse to return to hay by 
following the frosting road back to the barn. 

The fifth season has arrived,
sneaking in between summer and fall, 
changing everything green to yellow,
then to fire and ash—
suspending earth and air until 
nature decides the next breath.

Notes:

bardo: (in Tibetan Buddhism) a state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person’s conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death.

Liminal: Liminal space is the uncertain transition between where you’ve been and where you’re going physically, emotionally, or metaphorically.

abscission: the natural detachment of parts of a plant, typically dead leaves and ripe fruit.

Frazil: soft or amorphous ice formed by the accumulation of ice crystals in water that is too turbulent to freeze solid.