The heat broke, and a steady rain fell gently
to rescue fields and forests from the drought.
I can’t remember the last time the sky
was grey, the light was dim and cozy –
time to retreat indoors, drink tea, bake bread,
light the first candle of the season.
We are past equinox, and nightfall
comes early, morning light wakes later.
The autumn air is haunted with goodbyes
and memories of goodbyes that mark, like cairns,
a path across a wide uncharted realm.
My kin who walked before me left no footsteps –
just memories that float like lanterns
and calmly light my way.
Agnes Vojta grew up in Germany and now lives in Rolla, Missouri where she teaches physics at Missouri S&T and hikes the Ozarks. She is the author of Porous Land, The Eden of Perhaps, and A Coracle for Dreams (Spartan Press), and her fourth collection Love Song to Gravity has come out from Stubborn Mule Press in spring 2025.
Agnes is associate editor of Thimble Literary Magazine and host of the Poetry at the Pub reading series in Rolla. Her poems have appeared in a variety of magazines; you can read some of them on her website agnesvojta.com.