Late August

“… in my salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood/To say as I said then!” – Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

In the sweet-sour lemonade days of August,
while others lingered on the lawn at dusk,
clinging to the last childhood games, I stayed only
to sniff the air for signs of fall, my heart
beating faster at a whiff of burning leaves,
my blood fizzing on the first chilly day,
longing for another cycle of books,
chalkboards, and pencils to begin again
the way my mother did in her summers too.
Now, watching the fireflies on the lawn,
I imagine children running with jars
to catch the fading time …

“Isn’t it pretty to think so.” –The Sun Also Rises (1926) by Ernest Hemingway
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This August forecast and trip to “the good old days” is sponsored by dVerse and GoDogGo.