When Summer's Leaving

(sonnet # CCIX)

CCIX


Fair summer's in the waning when hauteur
Gives way to crickets on the fringes day
And night; and where cicadas' brazen bray
No longer kills desire and play; their whir's
Reminder merely that her sweet allure
With that distaste is yielding to the grey
Of indoor silence; where dear Autumn's sway
Of cooler arid beauty e'er bestirs.
Where darkness lingers more oft as the light
Is shorter morn and ev'ning, heat's intense
For lesser stretches as relief in night 
Now lengthened is more often sure defense.
When harvest ev'rywhere invites, her might
Nigh conquered blesses, as "Adieu" we sense.

21/31Aug11