The First Day of September

Summer is no more, deceased, dead, and is gone.
Today is the day the summer dies and I mourn
As it passes.

Freshly scrubbed children gather in a noisy throng;
For the lazy weeks are replaced

With stuffy school classes;

Today is the day of the dreaded return;

The first day of September and the first day of term.
The tired rooms that have been closed for weeks
Smelling of wood polish, chalk and dust, are now a cage
Confining their charges as the warm afternoon

Slowly creeps;

A tantalising reminder of a previous page.
New uniforms, crisp mornings and the return;

The first day of September and the first day of term.
The hedgerows turn russet under a blanket of dew
And the horse chestnuts ripen under the cooling sun.
Haunting September; the harbinger of autumn anew.
Chill mornings and warm afternoons

A hint of the winter to come.

No longer for me the dreaded return;

The first day of September and the first day of term.
September forebodes trees reaching naked

Against leaden skies

Full of snow, rain and sleet, and night falling
At four in the afternoon.

I love the mellow colours

And gentle warmth as summer dies
And the memories it dredges unbidden
That flew by too soon.

Relieved am I though, that I no longer have to return;
On the first day of September and the first day of term.