it's getting late in the summer.
people are noticing the sun passes beneath the horizon earlier.
the nights have a coolness about them
that will seem warm - even hot - next spring.
the canada geese have been doing practice v's over our house for a couple of weeks.
and the breezes now have bronze, then silver fingers
that bring your elbows in close to your body
when you're sitting outside.
the indoor plants know.
some of them have dropped some leaves.
the outdoor plants are offering single leaves.
red.
yellow.
and there are the flowers.
who are there.
simply there.
despite:
cool nights.
ants.
dry ground.
twenty rays -
a floral corona.
the dayseye hugging the earth
in august, ha! spring is
gone down in purple,
weeds stand high in the corn,
the rainbeaten furrow
is clotted with sorrel
and crabgrass, the
branch is black under
the heavy mass of the leaves--
the sun is upon a
slender green stem
ribbed lengthwise.
he lies on his back--
it is a woman also--
he regards his former
majesty and
round the yellow center,
split and creviced and done into
minute flowerheads, he sends out
his twenty rays-- a little
and the wind is among them
to grow cool there!
(excerpted from) "the daisy" william carlos williams
