Last Days of Summer

These, the last days of summer, deliriously mournful,
cool breeze of September making herself known,
clouds puffing to dusty rose, cicadas in the eve,
Ishmael from off the watery seas, returning to port.

Whales, dolphins wending their way back, wanderers,
travelers, Osysseus himself, the rootless,
the homeless, the squirrel preparing his way,
These, the last days of summer, almost over-ripe,
when earth tilts and signals a return.

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