SEPIA

autumn slips in on its

heirloom paintbrush

caramel and maple

wings and flights

leaves of rust and shadow

it settles with a chill

I can hold in my hand

like a fledgling

from the brambled brush

a lizard darts greedily

across the dappled plain

stay awhile stay

and paint with me

the harvest

persimmon

bliss

Regine is a teacher in Tucson, Arizona, in a school she founded. Her work has been featured in Sledgehammer Lit, Chasing Shadows, Consilience and Black Bough Poems, among others.