This poem, an excerpt from Adrienne Rich’s long-form poem, Contradictions, sings of this wild, windy, October Sunday. And of all the things that arrive “before we’re ready” — great, crashing angels bearing the spilling light of our future in both hands.
“This high summer we love will pour its light
the fields grown rich and ragged in one strong moment
then before we’re ready will crash into autumn
with a violence we can’t accept
a bounty we can’t forgive
Night frost will strike when the noons are warm
the pumpkins wildly glowing the green tomatoes
straining huge on the vines
queen anne and blackeyed susan will straggle rust
as the milkweed stakes her claim
she who will stand at last dark sticks barely rising
up through the snow her testament of continuation
We’ll dream of a longer summer
but this is the one we have:
I lay my sunburnt hand
on your table: this is the time we have”
–Adrienne Rich, from Contradictions: Tracking Poems.