Deliverance
A shower of small golden leaves
from a row of honey locusts
falls through the late November air,
pouring color into the dark street.
As the wind swirls in unruly patterns,
these flecks of sun are gathered up,
the year's last brightness risen,
swept skyward above Manhattan,
delivered from stone, glass and steel,
to the blue that tops all towers.
"Autumn in New York" by Mary Stallings