September Revolution

Fallen Leaf (Drawing by Malcolm Farley)

Summer’s tyrants quail in their tanning booths.
King Mosquito; Herr General Barbeque;
the Lords of Scorch & Thunder—all slink away
as Evening’s rebels muster at the Equinox.

Monarchs in panicked caravans flee south
across the border into fall, their veiny
orange wings like pennants of surrender
flapping in the disconcerting early chill.

The ideology of Zenith fails.
Sunshine squanders clout each day. Phlox loses
faith and goes to seed, while slutty dahlias
bend and spread themselves for any soldier gust.

Even the lawn furniture dimly senses
History’s drift when—among the first still greenish
looters and insurgents fluttering down—
a friend falls and bleeds on ignorant ground.

To hear Malcolm Farley read his poem, “September Revolution,” click on the audio icon below.