The Autumn Monarch
by Tony Stark
He is the autumn wind
Often warm
sometimes cold
Bringing the sadness of awareness
Of change
Loss and death
A lone figure
Standing at the border
of metal and basalt
At the tip of Battery Park
At the foot of the Lion’s Gate
Where the river meets the sea
Collar turned up around his ears
The stir of leaves rising to a flood
Air that has already passed away
From summer’s haze
And coins golden and iron and brittle
Spent by coffers deep
The ledger of summer is spent
He finishes the columns
Then locks them away
In the Black Tower
And stares out at the places
Where the river meets the sea.