| It's so quiet here, standing idle in this Quatrain space |
| Burnt-brick leaves shrivel under shroud haste |
| Sun's rising, an agonist to gelid rime licking sapwood |
| Last leaves fall to form a comatose, chilled blackwood |
❄️❄️❄️❄️Yet this transition warrants the wild❄️❄️❄️❄️
Clouds coalesce in a vitro-virtue aloof generation, a new brew every year. Rolling into grey matter like floss from austere faeries cottoning
Onto circumspect change in the ashen air, it's the only constant. First light recoils under humid duress, dressed down by an archipelago of sky islands vying for dominance
At the cusp of survival season
Openmouthed to taste this bosk's wilting, fragrant disillusionment. Like clover, only subdued and drawn to some sullen deep end
And it's here, in the contextual depths, where wisped pews of rearranged branches stalk one another, so-so silently
I can hear ruptured, rapture winds if I lower my elan ear down ↯↯↯ to the barren, wellspring-swept beginnings of Autumnal ends
Damp and derided earth speaks, if you listen closely. Exophoric noise kneels as a hypothermic habitat kills its weak and cloisters the strong. Savagery is on show as the wheel
Of seasonal cyclic inevitability turns to brutal crystallinity
(c) Edward Swafford 2025
***Title image by Hamed Farahpour from Pexels.
About the Creator
Edward Swafford
Hello! I'm an Australian writer, copywriter, and healthcare professional. I've written on Medium for over two years and also run Black Coffee Creative on Substack (over 900 subscribers).
Edgy syntax is my bailiwick.
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📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 01/08/2026
Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted most alternating Thursdays at 12PM ET to offer creators more avenues to uncover exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are continuously searching for fresh creators and inspiring stories, this thread provides an opportunity to exchange and discuss the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal.
By Raise Your Voice by Vocalabout 23 hours ago in Resources
Comments (2)
I love this! The imagery of “burnt-brick leaves” and “gelid rime licking sapwood” paints such a vivid scene.
I know I said it in another comment, but I am so glad I found you here on Vocal Media, Edward! You are quite the talented poet. I read this twice, paying special attention to this: "And it's here, in the contextual depths, where wisped pews of rearranged branches stalk one another, so-so silently"