Beware September’s falling leaves.
Beware first autumn’s signs.
Humidity still up its sleeves —
seasons’ peculiar lines.

“Summer’s worst provocative heat
by now has surely passed.”
How unwary, how obsolete!
Aspersions must be cast.

Blistering air slows conduction
through injured spinal cord.
Stifling any production,
of movement, walking, word.

Wading through gelatinous muck —
afternoon’s opaque haze.
In frigid, dry apartment stuck —
trapped inside endless days.

Apple cider, cinnamon sticks —
the fall teases and baits.
Taunted by Dog Days’ semantics —
the invalid just waits.

What kind of a cruel mentor
dangles crisp clarity?
An equinoctial tempter —
teaching equanimity.

This unpredictable tether —
capricious and chronic,
As uncertain as the weather,
sneaky and sardonic.

—

Amanda Banner is a physician who lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania with her family.   She has won prizes for her poetry, memoir and novel excerpts at The Philadelphia Writer’s Conference.