Late Summer's Lament

Sunlight slants, melancholy, over treetops

Throwing valleys into quiet shadow

Willow leaves tremble in the first cool breeze

Trying to hold on for one more day

While goldenrods paint river bottoms yellow-gold

And nights turn cold and star filled

Each blade of grass with its own drop of dew

To chill summer-toughened bare feet

Scattered wildflowers and the last garden tomatoes

Whisper echoes of sunkissed summer days

And warm breezes sweeping through at night

Bright sunlight in midday is tempered by wispy cirrus clouds

Promising bare limbs and silent dawns weeping icy rain

As late summer's lament fades into the cold winds of autumn.