Old Leaf

October was more
Than halfway over.
What can you recall?

You’ve known November,
Surely, however
That name lands for you.

Roman moons. Water
Laps along the shore.
Naming and dying

Stay mysterious,
Names fluttering in,
The cats mistaking

Leaves on the sidewalk
For scurrying mice,
A human startled

By one leaf at dusk
That flew like a bat.
December is bent

In this hemisphere,
Naming, mistaking,
Dying, all of that.