Pantoum for Fall
Mine is the work of dying:
umber, curl, release.
When I come to call,
things fly away, fall away.
Umber, curl, release
into stillness, though nothing is still.
Things fly away, fall away,
fallow and stall
into stillness, though nothing is still
and there is nothing to hold here,
lines fallowed and stalling
full of color, then empty.
There is nothing to hold here.
Mine is the busy promise of quiet to come,
full of color, then empty.
Harvest. Feast. Hibernate.
Mine is the busy promise of quiet to come,
though I never rest myself.
Harvest, feast, hibernate—
you exhaust me with your want.
I never rest myself.
When I come to call,
you exhaust me with your need.
Mine is the work of dying.
Autumn Konopka is a poet, activist, runner, and coffee lover. She teaches, parents, and tries to make the world a better place in and around Philadelphia. Her poems have been (or will soon be) published in Main Street Rag, APIARY, Literary Mama, and Crab Orchard Review, among others. Her chapbook, a chain of paper dolls, was released by the Head & the Hand Press (Philadelphia). In 2016, she was named poet laureate of Montgomery County, PA. She has a BA in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in poetry from Antioch University.