When September Ends

---

Soupy summer air thins and cools

Beach balls deflate, pool noodles drip dry

Flip-flops and khakis slip into storage

Denim jeans and long-sleeved shirts unpack

Dust no longer dances in the sunbeams

Dewdrops revive the withered grasses

Rubber soles squeal on wet linoleum

Night arrives early and stays late

Cheeks flush and noses run

Pumpkins grimace and grin

Marshmallows bob in warm cocoa

Paperback spines crack and crease

My daughter scales the jungle gym in pull-ups,

Four years old going on fourteen

My son, teething, dribbles like a basketball,

One year old and chewing the upholstery

Half-asleep by day, half-awake by night

Two impatient parents and two imperfect kids

An unkempt family of four

Photos crop our faces and frame our memories

Videos animate the stillness of our lives

The lens distorts our shapes but not our love

Time zips by on roller skates

When September ends