AUTUMN PORTRAIT

First published in September 2021

Trees stretching
skeleton arms
into the mist,
iron railings
marking each
downward step,
stern lamp-posts
guarding the slope,
cobbles patterned
like a child's version
of a knitted square,
not quite perfect
well-trodden
over the years,
fog opening
its toothless mouth,
steps leading
nowhere, not a soul
in sight - loneliness
in black and white.