In The Evening Autumn

by Linda Hussa

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In The Evening Autumn

As I rode out to check cows calving
the light came across the meadow low
soft
and in it
I could see a shimmering blanket of cobwebs
moving in the breeze
like the surface of water.

The whole of the meadow
under billowing silk.

While I go about my singular life
an army
of small spiders
has set about to hold this entire world together
in a veil of fine silver strands.

© Linda Hussa

LINDA HUSSA lives in Surprise Valley near Cedarville in northeastern California, where the western edge of the Great Basin begins. She and her husband, John, a third-generation rancher, raise cattle, sheep and horses, as well as the hay to feed them. Hussa’s poetry speaks of the isolated nature of ranching, her commitment to rural communities and the natural community of the desert landscape. She has won many awards for her writing and is a past member of the Western Folklife Center’s Board of Trustees.

Sponsors

National Endowment for the Arts
Nevada Arts Council
NV Energy Foundation