Here She Comes

She is pungent pepper and sage that was crisply fried 
She is heart of oak with just a hint of Cabernet 
She is burnt chocolate that is chalky and slow to melt on the tongue 
She smells smoky and ghostly dusty and seared with lost angels' wings
She does not make you work for the sight of her beauty but she is a terrible tease 

All that is green now makes a bed for the brown that falls from above
Crunch and scutter become the new percussion sounds
At the end of the day
And everyone else (except for black, bold crows) becomes quiet and waits
For the grand entrance that is slower
Than gooey molasses across the fondant of Halloween candies

Every year, like her lover, I wait patiently for her arrival 
And watch as she drops calling cards hither and yon
in the weeds
of my life
Mixing sarcasm and flattery 
Just to keep me on the edge 
And to keep me distracted 
Before she shoves that first cold caress in my face
and then giggles with the cold dawn that seals her arrival.