The Japanese acers have not had their best season
Skeeters Broom has put on weight, but the rest, to a brush,
have shown their dismay at the taciturn
vagaries of this years weather. The hot translucence
of scarlet that was Skeeters greeting to spring, now
replaced by a hesitant red-green fading to
purple grey. The indecisive reticence of the
sun suddenly transformed without warning, to fry
the fragile fingers of Sango-kaku into curled
claws of pale orange-brown. My memories of
Kyoto colours have failed to ignite as my own
small woodland hunkers down in dusty varieties
of vaguely green while we all try to stave off
any hint of the season of mellow fruitfulness.