The Dichotomy of September

Diana over at Piffle asked us this: How goes it for all of you; the start of the other side of summer?

My answer was that it probably depended on what kind of day it was that I replied. On a beautiful sunny day, I'd think September was glorious and happy, such shades of summer. But on a cool, rainy day, my outlook would be bleak. September is so variable and has such mood swings! That whole idea prompted this two-sided poem.

My sunny happy response.......

sunny warm days

drench us in fresh summer memories

barely formed

neighbour's children dive into the pool

breaking the surface

with carefree laughter

cicadas saw their z's

glad of the chance to announce

the heat of day

huge Black-eyed Susans

blink lazily at us

from their thick clump

throughout the long still day

they do not stir

the red tomatoes bulge in ripeness

begging for a knife

the sweet and sour succulence

of Concord grapes

are bunched in baskets

and tightly wrapped

in their purple skins

the Peaches and Cream corn

crunches its offering of ecstasy

crisp tart red apples

hang down from the branches

like globes waiting to be plucked

a rain shower is welcomed

in the steamy evening

and the ground drinks it in thirstily -

the bounty and vitality

of the summer

suspended at its peak

FLIPSIDE.....

sadly, the sun's zenith shrinks,

slipping lower than

in high noon June

with its promise

of summer days yet to live

and as its arc diminishes

my spirit responds in kind

listless in its lament -

my favourite months will soon end

and

so many reminders

of the little time left

to savour them

the drought has dried up all the grass

so lush in July

the dandelion fluffs float

free to seed once again

old pale and dry Bleeding Hearts

still swing from their clotheslines

hanging on desperately

to the garden scene

summer slowly seeps away

northerly winds

blow in from cooler climes

I shiver as I shut some windows,

add a comforter,

curl up and cocoon,

thoughts of soup

simmering in my mind -

chorus of crickets

proclaiming the clock

ticking into fall

So which way do you view September?