September

The heat of the day still lingers in the field.
Leaves disclose their secrets
in answer to whispers from the bay.

My daughter bends like a sapling in waning sun,
selecting dandelions: one for her,
and another one

for her brother who crouches on the uneven sidewalk,
Bear tight under an arm, thumb in mouth
to keep the world in balance.

Amber light filters through spreading elms
lining the avenue of this small town.
I breathe in the evening, close my eyes

long enough to etch the moment for safe-keeping,
before it fades, an old photograph, fleeting,
a child's breath freeing seeds.

— Ronda Broatch
From her chapbook "Some Other Eden"

Photo by Dan Hardison
Cookeville, Tennessee

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