Goodbye to Summer

This lovely poem by Joyce Rupp speaks out loud what many are feeling as summer wanes and life moves in and out with the season.

Goodbye to Summer

Impermanence,
transformation,
seasonal change,
goodbyes.
Call it by whatever name,
its bound to leave a crusty
mark
on my reluctant spirit.

The time has come to end
my light-filled
summertime
when I floated on emerald
wings.
Now I stand here by the
patio door
looking out at naked trees.

Overnight, determined rain
pressed
nearly every leaf to the
ground.
Only a landscape of
emptiness remains
where once there lived
contented fullness.

I take a deep breath, give a
sigh
of resignation, gather my
precious
remembrance of those
succulent months
while my memory takes
one last, grateful look
at summer’s dewy
dawns.

Now is the time to yield, to
enter
the next turning, accept
the stark contrast
of barrenness in place of
fullness.

As I turn away from the
emptied trees
I take my generous basket
of summer
with me, trusting it has
stored
enough to see me through
until the time of melting
snow.