For Andrew Young: "His Last Autumn"

The following poem is by Leslie Norris (1921-2006):

                    His Last Autumn
      (for Andrew Young, 1885-1971)

He had never known such an autumn.
At his slow feet were apples
Redder than sun, and small flowers,
Their names no longer thought of,

Grew afresh in his recovered innocence.
His eyes had taken colour of the speedwell.
Looking at the sea, he felt its
Lifting pull as he dived, years deep,

Where slant light picked the rocks
With brilliants.  It was the distant
Road of his boyhood we drove along
On sunny afternoons, it was the laid

Dust of his past that rose beneath
Our wheels.  Tranquilly the weather
Lingered, warm day after warm day.
He was dead when the cold weather came.

                                                            Speedwell

Norris compiled and edited Andrew Young: Remembrance and Homage (1978), which contains poems by thirteen poets in honor of Young.  Previously, Leonard Clark edited Andrew Young: Prospect of a Poet (1957), which consists of essays and tributes by fourteen writers.