Summer's Soliloquies

Sun's flames burn through hazy, midday heat Raising fierce winds -- dusty, choking ... Fiery orb descending toward horizon's lair ~ Ghostly white moon rises, painted on low-ceilinged sky Bare, brown patches spread, invading once-proud green mantles Parched blades wither, yielding to ceaseless daily inroads Of blighted blotches, rank weeds, strangling lush herbage ~ Signs of fading Summer's sad soliloquies Flowers vanish, decapitated stick figures Barren, beheaded stalks, twisting, turning On their ghastly way, headless horsemen of the day ~ Sere petals grinning, decked out in obsolescence Moist green leaves prematurely crinkle brown Unmoored from twig or branch, breeze by Face up, now capricious, flip over, nurse Earth's bosom ~ Signs of fading Summer's sad soliloquies Crickets' symphonies screech endlessly Fireflies lanterns flicker on-off, on-off, on-off Abrupt descent of Humidity's airless curtain ~ Summer soliloquies' soundless denouement