omens past "what's that?" he said as he swam in the lake near the campsite. i swam over and took a look: a single bright red maple leaf floating on the surface of the still water. "it's an omen," i told him. "an omen?" "sort of like a sign that you have to know to read. it's not words, but it shows the future if you read it." "the leaf can tell me the future! what does it say?" "that summer is almost over, and soon it will be fall." 220903 ... past in the midst of its thick, low canopy a few brilliant leaves promise the coming change of seasons, a physical metaphor that gives the burning bush its common name. 230813 ... ovenbird “A bird crashed into the back window,” my mother said on the phone this morning. My father added, “we went out to check and it was an ovenbird, dead.” It felt like a bad omen. I hung up the phone and let my body break against the day’s narrow and impenetrable lancet. 250902 what's it to you? who go blather from