Faith Hope & Fiction

Summer dawn breaks to conquer
insistent, relentless—cheered on
by crescendo of cicada choruses.
In overgrown fields, petals push
bright colors above the dominant green
fighting its own battle
against brown burnout.
Nods on stems, hardy and overgrown
salute the sustaining blaze,
all the while stealing
their oranges, yellows and reds from it.
August pumps the bellows
hotter and hotter, urgent blasts
strengthen the hardy, wilt the weak.
Taproots pushed down deep in spring
pay off now with underground sips
from field canteens. Trees give up
excess leaves, felled prematurely.
Summer’s tight grip slowly slips
from Solstice to Equinox.
The proud warrior soon
must retreat. But not yet.
Autumn’s legions of frost and turning
blood-red leaves still gather in the distance,
their breath only a slight chill
after moonrise on September evenings.