Phases of the Moon by Kathryn Sadakierski

The colors of the trees

Are like a softly flickering fire in the hearth at home,

The sweetness of burnt caramel,

Faded fawn browns, bright oranges and reds

Dusted with the hues of sunset, descending.

The geese fly towards the autumn moon,

Gold on a sheaf of pink sky,

Like foil shapes embossed on an envelope, a card,

Pressed into the air,

Punched like paper cutouts into the heavens,

Letters falling down like candies in a pinata, 

Shiny wrappers catching the starlight.

We waver from this time of harvest

To the lean landscapes of winter,

Snow on the horizon,

Luminous as this moon

On the window’s rim

Like sunshine ricocheting off a silver cup’s edge,

And fly into the great distances,

Off to find our life’s next season.

Kathryn Sadakierski is a 22-year-old writer whose work has been published in anthologies, magazines, and literary journals around the world, including Blue Marble Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, October Hill Magazine, Northern New England Review, seashores: an international journal to share the spirit of haiku, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing, The Scriblerus, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Toyon Literary Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, and elsewhere. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. and M.S. from Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.