Your summer hair grew
Way too long to be tidy.
Sit still for a cut.

Large stacks of supplies
Litter my dining table.
I might lose my mind.

Earlier bedtimes
Last week would have helped you out.
Told you. Dang alarm!

Do I think the dog
will mope when you’re gone all day?
No. Likely just sleep.

In mere weeks, we’ll be aghast at Halloween decor
Displayed in stores come mid September,
Roll our eyes at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter schwag.
Too early, we’ll say. Every year, out early.

But oh, Autumn, the newspaper inserts that heralded:
Discounts on scissors, white school glue, colored pencils,
3-holed binder paper, spiral notebooks, both college-ruled,
Dried my throat, made my fists clench. When, dear God, when?