Dear summer,

she read,

in the narrowing

of the light,

upon the breaths

of the night,

I come as autumn,

in stifle and shadows,

in slings and arrows,

to claim your crown.

And she sighs,

this day was

always coming,

as it always does,

the day when her

emerald gown

will slip seductively

from her shoulders

and shiver,

in her undress,

with the sinking

September sun,

a mercury fall,

trailing in caramel golds

through brittle carpets.

Vulnerable but,

no tame surrender,

teasing and tempting,

threading pearls

of sunshine

through the clawing

fingers of Fall,

a trespassing tenure

after sandcastles

are scaled and

footprints follow

memories to

watery graves.

Nicky Lloyd