Summers Autumn

The last of summer’s scorching days wilt by Watching bush fires mushroom languidly into jet streams Whilst the vast coastal plain laments at apathetic clouds Trees hang limply on lifeless limbs Forcing leaves in search of their shade Beaches scorch under sunburnt bodies Through a quivering veil of vicious haze That longs for a breeze to steal the greedy sweat Dripping from finger to toe A cool relief arrives, as kites take children to the skies Heralding the imperceptible change To a coast that’s had its roast As autumn blankets the last summer weeks Like a ghost lost in a fog The seasons are passing each other by As morning lawns reveal footprints through the night’s silky dew As sheets are swapped for duvet’s And hearth’s wail in search of warmth Cool night air thieves under doors Dogs and cats curl tighter in a ball Suburbs bristle and await A sun, that now sleeps through Trees stand frightened as their leaves make a choice Emeralds over gold or yellows to favour red as Auburn litter eddies in awkward swirls Above their frosty roots Autumn now shows herself in all her grandeur A frigid concert of muted colours And musty soil beneath shortened days Bracing for winter’s wrath in all her mighty fury 31 August 2014