by Roger Yetzer

Day after day as the chill in the air intensifies, 
the late nights and early mornings on the back porch
quickly become more and more unbearable. 

The chirping of the crickets slows 
and diminishes in intensity 
before stopping altogether until the next summer. 

The playful yelling and laughter of the neighborhood children 
is transported away on school buses 
and into rush hour traffic. 

The plants and flowers freeze and die.  
The leaves in the trees are no longer green and luscious. 
All signs of the weeks and months ahead.