September tiptoes in like a teenager
sneaking into the house late at night,
hoping to dodge the where have you been?s,

bringing with her a cooling breeze,
the likes of which we have not felt for
months. But that’s what summer does:

heats us up for the coming cold, dries
us out for the predicted wicked wet
when we—or at least I—long for

the kind of sun that sizzles the tops
of my feet, quenched with a splash
to my toes as I water the light-loving

plants on the deck, a reminder
that it will not always be like this—
days still warm but beginning to turn,

colorless leaves making a soft landing
as they begin to litter the yard, preparing,
like the rest of creation, to become mulch,

such rich compost for what will come after.