Afternoon Poem, July 28, 2015

 

.

I.

Late summer

the first yellow leaves fall

evening comes early

and nights are cool again.

.

II.

We run down the shady path

In mid-afternoon, sweating from every pore

As if we had escaped.

Entunneled beneath the spreading hardwood trees

The climbing, swarming vines

The tall weeds.

.

We pass the ruins of the old farmhouse

Once a wonder to us all

Without so much as a nod.

We run, looking ahead

Knowing why, but without saying.

.

We run deeper, beyond the last landmark we know

To hide, to get away

From the confinement and labor that fall will bring.

 

III.

 

But the woods do not go on forever

And when we, unknowing

Passed the center point

We kept running

But now we were running out.

 

Copyright 2015