Poem for today - The equinox rush (Piercy)

[plantgirl]

In terms of weather & timing this poem would have been more relevant a month ago. But to me it isn't just talking about the change in seasons, but about changes in perspective and one's place in life. So it's relevant now, and I find it hopeful.

The equinox rush

The swan heads south in the night sky.
Overhead, the sharp white triangle
of Altair, Deneb and Vega prickles.

At dawn there is a hint of frost,
only etched on the truck down
at the foot of the drive.

A sharp shinned hawk eyes
chickadees at the feeder, swoops.
That afternoon over High Head

I see two more hawks passing
missile lean, hurrying before
a wind I cannot feel.

Everything quickens. Squirrels
rush to feed. Monarchs among
the milkweed raggedly zigzag

toward South America. Too early
for the final harvest, too early
to mulch and protect, too soon

to take off the screens, still
some sharp corner has been turned.
I am stirred to finish something.

A hint of cold frames the day
and compresses it. Urgency
is the drug of the moment.

Find a task and do it, the red
of the Virginia creeper warns.
The sunset is a brushfire.

I am hurrying, I am running hard
toward I don't know what,
but I mean to arrive before dark.