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.