Heart of Autumn

"Heart of Autumn"

By Robert Penn Warren

"Wind finds the northweat gap, fall comes.

Today, under gray cloud- scud and over gray

Wind- flicker of forest, in perfect formation, wild geese

Head for land of warm water, the boom, the leas pellet.

Some crumple in air, fall. Some stagger, recover control,

Then take the last glide for a far glint of water. None

Knows what has happened. Now, today, watching

How tirelessly V upon V arrows the season's logic,

Do I know my own story? At least, they know

When the hour comes for the great wing-beat. Sky-strider,

Star-strider--they rise, and the imperial utterance,

Which cries out for distance, quivers in the wheeling sky.

That much they know, and in their nature know

The path of pathlessness, with all the joy

Of destiny fulfilling its own name.

I have know time and distance, but not why I am here.

Path of logic, path of folly, all

The same--and I stand, my face lifted now skyward,

Hearing the high beat, my arms outstretched in the tingling

Process of transformation, and soon tough legs,

With folded feet, trail in the sounding vacuum of passage,

And my heart is impacted with a fierce impulse

To unwordable utterance--

Toward sunset, at a great height."

Diary:

This piece makes me feel one with nature because the narrator is observing the birds and the formation of their flight and how ordered they are. He talks about the way that they move, as one in a pack. This is inspiring to me because I too need structure in life to have smooth sailing.