Indian Summer

We ran like the clouds run,

Chasing our shadows across the skin of the world.

And we were gods again,

Lords of all this naturalness,

Racing to outrun the moon.

Time’s face smiled on us and these were ours-

Our days, our nights.

The whole world was these golden days

That stretched between the boundless blue sky

And the sweet liquor of our sweat

.

So we ran,

Ran until we were drunk inhaling Autumn’s promise,

Ran ‘til we passed Summer’s dreams.

And did we sing?

We sang until our throats were raw

And coated with ancestor’s dust.

We’d been granted a reprieve you see,

Surcease from dreams and duties,

A few short hours, here near midnight,

To dive again into piles of red and brown leaves                                     

And to bleed and cry again without consequence.

This was our second chance

And we grabbed it with both hands and ran,

Ran under the sun, ran under the moon

‘Til our hearts must break from the joy of running.

Because we already knew how short summer was,         

These days would be so much sweeter

For their brevity and undeservedness.

We were free again,

Like the leaves falling all around us,

Prisoners of days given unexpected furlough.

And did we drink, did we dance,

Did we love, did we live?

Yes, like they were new to the world.

But all things pass away

And we exist now in twilight

Where the years we spent,

Not for naught, but not for enough, now

Stand between us and Indian Summer

As both bridge and chasm.