to change tempo

Light illuminating chloroform. 
a trellis overhanging, 
entangled; wisteria, rose, 
grapevine, the soft murmur of 
lavender, curl 
gently together, 
modest for gold.

autumn: ripened fragility in 
pungent chestnut, milky birch, 
sanguine maple- 
transcending silence, radiance 
resonating the music 
of misty morning haze, 
spreading its thick fingers 
over and within 
fertile, green valleys: 
rising ghosts of wet earth.

Underfoot, beneath 
the ethereal, beneath 
the viscous morning 
trudges a brilliant 
orange head 
proudly to stream, intrepid 
half-shell encasing 
thinned, wrinkled flesh, 
while, its placid companion, 
purple newt, tantalizes 
a dreaming bed 
of green moss.

(we have all done this before)

I want to smash it 
against the wall: 
this greedy metronome, 
hurrying sweet smells 
of damp soil 
and lilac, soft 
sighs of tulips 
upon awakening. 
I want to hold 
in my very hands 
what I cannot, for 
a very long time.

Caroline Seagle's questions:

Is the imagery successful?

does the poem seem jambled or too wordy?

did you think turtle in the third stanza? I didn't want to actually use the word, turtle. but perhaps it's not obvious enough.

do the line breaks make sense?

is the title appropriate?

thanks very much,