Penny Wise, Pound Poor

Fall was a tubercular cousin         residing in the country         sparse hair,         rasping cough.         2         Night air was damaging         stringing pumpkins         around orange chains, the         milkweed pod shivering         in open shirtsleeves         little noises sifting         from burrows in her chest.         3         Fall was...         reputedly from another country         wore glaring cravats,         gold leaf and Rubenesque chain;         stalked the lark         mocked the breeze.         4         Penny wise, pound poor         leaves         a shock of hair         prematurely white         degradingly picked from         the comb         flung out fireflies         crisp bodies to singe         fire-cold light.         5         Advancing stairs         in poor light,         the season became makeshift         wallpaper         hung by tedious hands.         Little seep of plaster dirt         escaping the touch,         grass bristled by frost         where occasional flower         was torched with cold         savaged bees         stumbled from the weeds.