An original poem

While Summer Air Still Sustains

An ode to the end of summer.

Small feet clatter in season-old beach shoes Hastily discarded one here and one further on Toes eager to dig into grains of sand Warm as newly baked bread Chubby hands reach readily to pull and push sand Into forms imitating those of nearby olders

Nearby undergrowth rustles, parts and closes The wind commands attention The day limps on and tempers are lost An almost meaning in the noise An approximation of words still shapeless Yet to let go of toddlerhood

There is an uncertain violence A baffling sense of emotion Unschooled as yet By recess on playgrounds Bedeviled by bullies Who torment as an occupation

Sensing thread-worn weariness Communicated across lilting air which lifts Less loftily as in mid season days The chilled shade calling for jackets Still left packed away Awaiting fall’s authentic arrival

They make do with makeshift blankets Of toweled terry cloth Lacking the energy to drag into the sun A purposeless endeavor that needs be repeated As shadows shift ever closer To the troubled water confused by inconsummate changeover

Small voices thunder in ears Halfhearted directives are shouted From lapsed chairs taped against collapse Otherwise ignored by Mothers wearied of playing intermediary As summer dies more quickly in the passing hours

Biting flies hang in the remaining heat Merciless as if knowing Their life cycle is almost through And this their last chance for satisfaction Before stillness prevents Bringing conclusion to their hardiness

Little legs carry sunsapped bodies toward Merciless waterfront A yell goes up on mass once more Heads turn but briefly As little ones affect mimicked stances Seeking their poise

Small hands now grasped, tugged Protesting whines go up but cannot stay On barely warped air A halfhearted distortion And so drop Without triggering a reply

Overhead gulls wheel gleefully Oblivious to season only to flock A glorious in-gathering Til gusts of birds lead away From abandoned lake shore Dotted with wax paper wrappers An indefinite progression

Natalie Frank (Taye Carrol) has had work featured in Haunted Waters Press, Weirdbook Magazine, Siren’s Call Publications, Lycan Valley Press and Zero Fiction among others. Her poetry has been featured in several anthologies.

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