Last Line In The Dying Light

August arrives in a foul mood, tempestuous

tornado of dead winds dusting over dried creeks 

waiting for rain. Any memory of spring, 

gum boots sucking into the mud of a forgotten winter, 

now a distant wish for a change in seasons. 

Summer, once beloved, no longer cherished, 

has become our forewarning of Hell, the mephitic bargain 

modernity extracts from the dwindling dividend of nature. 

Still, I have a fondness for these dog days, 

the whisper of youth’s immortality, echo  

of recollections reverberating in the rippling radiance 

of a sun slowly sinking into the rust tinged fields.   

When a tribe of Yellow Jackets, lured by the sickly 

scent of rotting pears left to perish among the few 

brave blades of lawn yet to surrender, sense 

my melancholy sighs, it’s time to shutter up the day. 

Though the poet, always hungry, aches to wait

to wring a last line from the dying light, 

the poem I seek I know has no defenses  

to the menacing waves circling overhead.  

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Ken,

Ever so swirling imagery that simply quite does capture and well entertain the imagination's imagination ...

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[Ken e Bujold]

Thank you Marvin. Just musing over this unrelenting summer's heat. thanks for stopping by, hope all is well

[Betty Hermelee]

August did arrive in a foul mood this summer; extreme heat, wild fires, floods..we yearn for fall, but yet we still remember some of the quirks of high summer that make for pleasant memories....and a bit of a spoof at the end about poets ans sunsets...
Enjoyed it!
Warmly, B

[Chris Shaw]

You draw the reader in with a terrific opening Ken. August can be a wicked month for some in the hottest of climes. Very much enjoyed the description of the yellow jackets on rotting pears on a a parched lawn. You create a great ambience with this write.

Chris

[W. Barrett Munn]

This is intensely satisfying to read, I think mostly because of the precision of the language lets you know a master craftsman has been plying his trade here so you relax and enjoy the view without worrying about leaks.

Winston