Wind Watching

I cannot hear the discordance of autumn
behind the double-glazed window.
I only hear the hum of the fridge,
the floorboards expanding and contracting
the gentle thuds of a cat on the stairs,
and creak of a door in a draught.

But I see the wind chimes swinging wildly
from the branch of the cherry tree.
I watch the wind tear at russet leaves
on the copper maple and beeches,
tangling the curly willow, punishing pigeons
and buffeting the jackdaws.

Kim M. Russell, 5th November 2026

Image by Vau Kim on Unsplash

This Thursday at the dVerse Poets Pub it’s Open Link Night and Grace is our host with a mini prompt that is also a tribute to Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson, who was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Grace tells us that she is ‘known for infusing classical philosophy with witty, ironic brilliance’ and that she is the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature since Alice Munro in 2013.

Grace has given us background to Anne Carson, as well as her poem ‘Wildly Constant’.

Our optional mini-prompt is to use the title, ‘Wildly Constant’, in our poems or be inspired by “listening to the wind” (wherever this may take us). I took an old poem set in spring and changed it to autumn.

26 thoughts on “Wind Watching”

  4. Love specially the second part with glorious images of leaves and trees.

    I watch the wind tear at russet leaves
    on the copper maple and beeches,
    tangling the curly willow, punishing pigeons
    and buffeting the jackdaws.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. A poem that truly blossoms even if it is autumn, the description in the 2nd stanza ebullient. A festival of the senses despite the shyness of the first two lines.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I love the movement from inside to outside and all the vivid, sensory elements, especially these final lines:

    “I watch the wind tear at russet leaves
    on the copper maple and beeches,
    tangling the curly willow, punishing pigeons
    and buffeting the jackdaws.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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