SEPTEMBER LEAVES
The sweet smell of a June dawn
Strips winter from my nostrils.
Pedalling on the outside edge
Of a ridge's right turn
Legs burn, then muscles
Sigh relief as I swing
Downhill into the valley
Of July.
She weeps her sun
On shoulders bare,
Until August's breeze sets in,
When long evenings entice me
Deeper into the summer,
Winding my way along quiet lanes,
Away from traffic, out into
Open countryside.
September landslides me
Back to school, and I long
For short days to return me
From tired aching strains
Of algebra and geometry, to
Another summer free of furrowed brow,
To castles bypassed in shade,
As I raced too fast to remember,
September leaves always fall
Too soon.