Summer Sestina

Summer Sestina

Fall arrives on the calendar,

But not in the sky where the sun

Punishes the earth with hoary fire

Refusing to absolve itself; summer

Remains, retaining its dominance

Of heated wind glazing the land.

Desolate and dusty, ever drying land

Ignoring the passing days of the calendar

Discounting fall’s arrival; maintaining dominance

with the continued vivacity of the sun.

Disordered nature holds on to summer

Its essence yearning for colors of Autumn fire.

Leaves cover the ground with visages of fire

Sufficiently bright to warm the land

Luring it into the comforts and warmth of summer

ignoring the passing days of the calendar

to lie in pleasant musing of eternally shining sun

and challenging nature’s assured dominance.

Fall persists its challenge to summer’s dominance

Over nature; desperate to keep the fires

Alive ever-burning, every-broiling sun

Refusing to relinquish its hold on the land

Refusing to acknowledge the movement of the calendar

Holding onto the last vestiges of the days of summer.

Fall pursues the hot winds of summer

Day by day building a wall of dominance

Attuned to Nature’s ever-demanding calendar

The overly burnished land with leaves of fire

reds, oranges, yellows shelter the sleepy land

Drawn down and waiting for the winter sun.

A calm and steady presence; a glossily subtle sun

Has laid to rest the last vestiges of summer

Amidst the sheltering trees, the land

Relaxes under the calm and careful dominance

of Autumn’s kindness to Nature, quieting fires

Advancing their natural course by the calendar.

The regulating calendar ignores the sun’s remorse

Fire-lit evenings swapped for summer’s fireflies

Prepares for fall’s dominance over the slumbering land.