September

Golden and soft in the early evening,
Even a bit of chill --
Not anything like
August’s intensity,
which was last week?

The Solstice is just a few weeks away,
the light now like the second week of April
when spring was just getting started in earnest.

Time is moving on, leaving this summer behind
and with it, its hot, steamy pleasures.

I wonder why the new year
doesn’t start now
when the days are in balance
and a new season
begins,
sliding into the dark.