TRANSATLANTIC Thanksgiving is celebrated late in November. But this tranquil cameo from rural Ontario invokes the North American ‘Fall’ in a general way. Its author is Canada-based, Glasgow University graduate, Margaret Blair; it features in her collection of poems and short essays, Here Comes the Moon (Trafford Publishing).

THANKSGIVING

Call of wild geese flying south

Field of sunflowers

Scurry of squirrels storing food

In the pine tree boughs

Silk sprouting from corn stalk tops

Ripened by soft rain.

Drawn by three gorgeous horses,

A Mennonite ploughs

Fertile brown furrows of earth

Waiting for next spring

Sunset over lake water

Tawny yellow hay

Maples’ splendour of colour

Smile at the first sip of tea

Each in its own way gives thanks

For another peaceful year.