Mid-August

Hummingbirds with rapid wings

visit flowers more frequently

then slip quickly away

to find new blossoms

as they bank calories

for the migration south.

A list of fall vegetables

appears at the farm stand:

butternut squash, cabbages,

and soon the pumpkins

next to the sweet corn.

The long hours of light

are slowly fading away

as summer moves

toward its final days.

Lainie Senechal