October Afternoon in Bad Kreuth in Bavaria / Mary Devenport O'Neill

October Afternoon in Bad Kreuth in Bavaria

A fall of snow
And then a frosty dusk,
High up the pines
Were pilgrims in grey cloaks;
The mad red glow
Of fallen leaves
Ran up the slopes
And over the wood floor.
I thought the trees
Coloured embroideries
On a grey veil –
In front of all a spray
Clear-cut and Japanese
Of lemon-leaved sycamore.

~~
Mary Devenport O'Neill (1879-1967)
from Prometheus, and other poems, 1929

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada]

Mary Devenport O'Neill biography