Fall Festival

20.

today summer broke
wave receding from the shore
Labor Day weekend
scouring summer's beach for what's left

clear friendly day
weightless day
you can breathe the air
and walk the sidewalks
          of Germantown uncluttered
          by shimmering waves
          and translucent
          weight

night settles in
beer & drinks on the porch
shyly, sound travels better now

re-tune to G
approaching clarity of age, nostalgia,
loss - but for now
welcome September

23.

fall comes in a rabid jackal

hot winds sweeping

across foreshortened day

up Dixie Highway from Radcliff

in the armpit of Fort Knox

up past the fort itself

          limestone mass

            rising

          from scorched grass

          alone

          perimeters visible & invisible

          nothing

          you can't sneak up on it

not for all the gold . . .

brush the river

girls! girls! girls!

Rivergirls, Red Door, Syn Den

south end strippers

one lone chopper out front

and the heat banging on -

             in the end

what wears you down, as much as heat,

is the roar of wind & machines

           to cut the heat

24.

today was shorter than yesterday

tomorrow will be shorter than today

and it will be that way

for a little while

once again in heat

that requires three digit explanation

the expansion of dark

doesn't dawn on consciousness

just looking to breathe free

but already

at the back of my mind

longing for the lengthening day

for another spot on the wheel

St. Paddy's Day, Easter

pitchers and catchers report

Thunder, Derby

dreaming of the last snow

before the first flakes fly