Quiet Ripening

Here is the silence

grapes

in their fullness

before bursting off the vine

curdled milk of sheep

sometimes waiting ages

beneath old walnut leaves and ash

olives before October’s press

anticipating goodness

that will ooze

from their inner selves.

the crescent moon

tiptoeing up the craggy shadow

to surprise Mount Amiata

All around, silence

Even the wind

carries the quiet

and brings stillness

to its seat on the window sill.

© Annette Januzzi Wick

Castiglioncello del Trinoro, Italy, October, 2011