Yikes! August Already?

The poem below was inspired by a recent  monologue of Jimmy Kimmel as well as my own backyard observations. I'm not sure how often comedians and poets contemplate the same phenomenon, but certainly the arrival of August elicited the same response from most everyone I know (and many of whom I don't).

You and your friends

always sound 

so surprised when I arrive,

but certainly,

 (especially at your age), 

you knew I’d return

as surely as you knew

I’d leave again.

Why, then, are you surprised?

Patiently, I waited 

as I always wait—

just around around the bend,

lingering 

in the lengthening shadows,

listening 

for the fading call 

of the cricket and katydid. 

Finally, when the endless blue 

bamboozled you,

when the wisteria

wrapped you in her woody arms;

and the honeysuckle and hyacinth 

lulled you to forgetfulness,

I approached. 

My suitcase was packed

(as it always is)

with peaches and pears; 

with mulberries and melons;

goldenrod, sedum,

and well-worn passports 

for the warbler and sparrow.

You take what I have to give

(as you always do),

and when my suitcase 

is empty,

you shudder

and shut me away

never noticing the message 

tucked in my side pocket—

time passes. be kind. forgive your enemies.

most of all, 

do not be surprised—

winter is waiting just around the bend.