September, Poems, Birthdays and Autumn

September has come, It is hers
Whose vitality leaps in the autumn,
Whose nature prefers
Trees without leaves and a fire in the fire-place.
So I give her this month and the next
Though the whole of my year should be hers who has rendered already
So many of its days intolerable or perplexed
But so many more so happy;
Who has left a scent on my life and left my walls
Dancing over and over with her shadow,
Whose hair is twined in all my waterfalls
And all of London littered with remembered kisses.

- Louis MacNeice, "Autumn Journal"



Some of you may recognise the opening lines from my old myspace account...some may not. This is one of my favorite poems followed closely by "Inversnaid" by Gerald Manley Hopkins. September is that magical time of year when summer closes and Autumn takes the stage. It is the beginning of some of my most cherished things: the smell of woodsmoke, foggy mornings, the orange of ripe pumpkins, cool windy days, the leaves in bright colors across the hills and crunching underfoot, buying school supplies and knowing that Halloween is just around the corner....

Autumn is when I feel the most alive.

I am so happy that I was born in this most beloved of months and at this wonderful time of the year.

I didn't make a wish when I blew out my candles yesterday...I'd already received my wish.

For those of you here in Utah I am sure that Labor Day this year was a bit of a bummer for you: a 3-day weekend of rain, cool weather and a lot of clouds with just a little sun peeking out at the end, but for me this weekend was exactly what I needed, and honestly one of the best birthday presents I could have ever asked for.