EMBERS OF SUMMER

Now begins the season

for gathering,

and life and love

are garnered in

as the heart holds

its harvest of reflections.

Intimations of Autumn

are borne on the breeze

with the perfume of smoke

and a sense of cold

on shortening evenings

that breathe on the soul.

Memories alight

in my mind

as birds settle

on the trees.

Evening puddles are home

to your remembered eyes.

Morning mists are echoes

of dreams as roads sweat

the remnants of night.

Minutes fall like maple leaves

and the embers of summer

are crushed beneath our feet.