Did the G-d of the South
finally begin perspiring
and give that little knob a flick,
mid-September or if lucky,
August 22nd?

Now the wind is an aloe
blanket, remedy for
a stove-burned arm—a
refrigerator door held
open for three cooling minutes;
humidity an afterimage
on my retina of summer.

And sunlight glows like maple
icing on a cake baked daily.

Autumn resurrects every
annual cycle, but peeling
off the dried glue of August,
I comprehend that redemption
and renewal are all books to
be read again and again.

Gary Grossman’s work appears in forty-four literary reviews and includes nominations for Best Short Fictions and Pushcart. His poetry books, Lyrical Years (Kelsay) and What I Meant to Say Was . . . (Impspired), are available from Amazon, as is his 2023 graphic memoir My Life in Fish—One Scientist’s Journey (Impspired).