Afternoon Poem, August 16, 2018

Only a glimpse, between house and garage

Of the swingset that stands on the Jones’s back lawn

I drove by slowly on this bright afternoon

And saw the empty swing rocking high

As if someone had just leapt from it

Leaving it to come to rest on its own

But I saw no one around

It hit me like a whispered truth

This is the end of a season

Have the children who played there all summer long

Gone on to schoolchairs already

Or have they simply gone on

The moment, even time itself

Passes quickly and disappears

Leaving little trace

And the swing, once full of life

In the next moment will be quiet

Moved only inches by the oncoming breeze of Autumn

copyright 2018

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