Another Autumn

By BRIGIT KELLY YOUNG

New York wraps itself
in pea coats.
The trees match the colors
of the taxis,
and the ramblings
of cell phones

become a strange new
human music –
our whale calls,
echoing on Chelsea side streets.
Who we are now
is who we have been.
Autumn has always
had this strange
melancholy.
And in the Amsterdam Avenue
ale house
another old man
tells his story
to whoever listens
while I write down
the same lines
as the year before.

 

Brigit Kelly Young’s poetry and fiction have appeared in journals that include Gargoyle Magazine, Drunken Boat Magazine, The North American Review, Eclectica MagazineMidwestern Gothic and 2 River View.

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

Another Autumn

Related Posts

Fathom

SARA RYAN
When the whales wash up on shore, my friend grieves. I feel it too, but it feels further away. Deep in me, treading water, legs furiously churning under the surface. The first whale washes up on the oceanfront, just off the boardwalk. People drive out to stare at it. Its dark wet form deflates into the sand.

The Common x Sant Jordi Book Festival: Arabic Fiction Readings

NEWS AND EVENTS
Some of The Common’s Arabic fiction contributors, MARYAM DAJANI, ESTABRAQ AHMAD, and ISHRAGA MUSTAFA HAMID, made virtual appearances at the Sant Jordi Book Festival last week! The hybrid celebration, sponsored by the eponymous Sant Jordi in New York, is held annually in New York City to raise awareness of literature in translation.

Glass: Five Sonnets

MONIKA CASSEL
In ’87 I see guardsmen walk their AK-47s / on the platforms. The trains slow down but never stop. I think, / my mother was born in such a different Germany, but this is true for everyone / —so why can’t I stop looking?