"November is a russet apple with a glint of gold in
it's rough brown skin,
one dry leaf clinging to its blackened stem,
a brisk spicy flavor at its core.
It is cider working in dark barrels,
reddish brown sawdust blanketing the sills,
amber-eyed cows chewing all day in the stanchions.
It is stately fowl on yard parade in brown and gray feathers
and red combs, and many brown eggs in the barn cellar nests at night.
It is grey crocks filled with barberry sauce
and great cubes of translucent pumpkin,
scarlet cranberries drying in the open chamber
. A lamp or lantern held high in the dark dairy
reveals a mosaic of jellies, preserves, shrubs,
wines, bottled herbs and yellow cream rising in shallow pans."
Gladys Hasty Carroll
