Seasons Capricious

Summer is meandering into fall

Some years it gushes impulsively

You blink and the trees are on putting on a glorious display

But not this year

This year it is taking the long way

Winding around each bend in a languid laziness

Drawing out each day as if in slow motion

Like molasses seeping leisurely from a jar

Summer is leaving us at its own pace

Unhurried, not quite ready to put on its hat and walk out the door

It will linger a while longer it seems

It’s movements almost imperceptible

Like a cat stalking its prey

Muscles tense and yet incredibly fluid

Highly accomplished and focused

But watch out…

Without warning, it disperses overnight to the south

Fall drives up to our gate

It might be a bit annoyed at being made to wait

Will it ambush us like a wild thing?

Or cheerfully play the chameleon to summer

Bringing with it a different kind of warmth?

Confidant that Autumn’s gold, mulberry, and crab apple reds

Will complement the family hearth

We are relaxed and contemplative now

The cats lounging by the fire

Off in the distance a meadow lark

Singing its solo into the dark

Inquiring over and over

How long before fall leaves us to suffer winter’s bark?