September Past
by Ann Cragg

Under the trees, silver frost still hiding from the sun;
An inquisitive bright-eyed squirrel sailing from tree to tree;
A few nuts and acorns falling from boughs overhead;
Flitting from flower to flower, an occasional bee;
The purple of Wild Asters all along the roadside;
The yellow plumes of Goldenrod waving in the breeze;
Golden Spanish Needles, whose needles stick to our clothes;
The leaves just beginning to change color in the trees;
The sudden rush of wings as some startled birds take flight --
These things of early fall I always will remember
For they stamped a lasting picture in my mind as we went,
Walking down the old dirt road, to school in September.

Copyright © 1999 Ann Cragg, from the book Ghosts and Echoes.
All rights reserved. Used with the kind permission of the author.
For more works or information: Ann Cragg