Summer's End

The evening fell a shade too soon; the cricket's song seemed far away.
The starlight framed a waning moon, and cool breeze marked the close of day.
Then for the first time I could hear the simple cacophonic blend,
A symphony so strong and clear, the gentle song of summer's end.

I gazed across the autumn sky regretting things I'd done or said,
Feeling life had passed me by with colder darker days ahead.
And so I stood in late September, with many letters left to send,
Pausing briefly to remember, the things I loved at summer's end.

The flicker of the candle flame, a melody heard long ago,
The banter of a young child's game, and silly rhyme I used to know,
My father's words so strong and wise, my mourning for a long lost friend,
The wonder in my young child's eyes came back to me at summer's end.

The magic of that first embrace, the waves that beat upon the shore,
The memories of my mother's face, the slamming of my back yard door,
The many ties that I hold dear, the broken ones I tried to mend,
In all I could clearly hear the whispered song of summer's end.

But from these thoughts there sprang a joy, and I began to understand,
That life is not a childhood toy, and not always at our command.
There's good and bad in everyone, we needn't forget nor pretend.
We've had our moments in the sun, and they comfort us at summer's end.

I felt this message in my heart, sent from somewhere long ago,
That every ending is a start of greater things than we can know.
The message wasn't mine to keep; I'd needn't silence nor defend,
For on this harvest we all must reap, it calls us all at summer's end.

It tugs upon my heart and soul, it guides me like the sailor's star.
It lets me know that I am whole, with the Earth and all the things that are.
Adrift on life's uncertain seas, I know on this I can depend,
God's tides will lift and carry me, and bring me home at summer's end.