TO THE LIGHT OF SEPTEMBER
When you are already here
you appear to be only
a name that tells of you
whether you are present or not
and for now it seems as though
you are still summer
still the high familiar
endless summer
yet with a glint
of bronze in the chill mornings
and the late yellow petals
of the mullein fluttering
on the stalks that lean
over their broken
shadows across the cracked ground
but they all know
that you have come
the seed heads of the sage
the whispering birds
with nowhere to hide you
to keep you for later
you
who fly with them
you who are neither
before nor after
you who arrive
with blue plums
that have fallen through the night
perfect in the dew
-W.S. Merwin
Gladsome Lights 
I keep forgetting to explore more of Merwin’s work. This is why I should.
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September is my favorite month! Late summer (I have to keep reminding myself and others it’s still summer) when the heat of the midday can still be enjoyed, but with the reprieve of cool mornings and evenings. I love it.
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This is exactly how I feel — and this week I am enjoying, after a cooler spell, warm days and slightly warmer than usual nights, too. Leaving my windows open and treasuring these last days, wishing they didn’t pass so quickly!
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What a lovely poem. I’m so glad you shared it. I need to explore more of his work. I love that line you pointed out in your title ‘you are still summer’. Here, we are still experiencing summer with some very warm days, but there is a slight nip in the air which reminds us we’re not in July anymore.
Thank you so much, Gretchen, for a lovely post. Happy weekend. Brenda xo
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Delicious welcome to my fourth favorite month of the year!
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Dewena, I’m interested in your rankings of months – will you share your preferences from best to worst? Do you give scores to all 12?
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I’ll be glad to! November is my most favorite month, next December, October, September, May, January, February, March, April, June, July, August.
You can tell from this that my husband is the gardener in the family and I only his cheerleader. I love fall and winter but had to skip the line for May, birthday month and usually lovely here.
What would your list be, Gretchen?
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My favorite month is September, but I’ve never thought beyond having one favorite. Maybe all the other months would vie for second place. I would put January in the least favorite position but it does have Theophany in it, and by the end of January buds are on some shrubs around here. I’m sure if I lived where the hot months were also humid, I would have stronger feelings about them. And where snow hangs on and gets dirty — that would be annoying, too.
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Oh, I like that “hint of bronze” phrase. We don’t have what you’d call “chill” mornings yet, but it’s coming. It’s a lovely poem, Gretchen. Thank you for sharing it.
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Now I feel the need to rank the months for myself. I think I would start with September and October.
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Wow, Dewena, that seems quite a thing, to really think about how much (or little!) you like each month. Very impressive! 🙂 Also, it’s nice to know that some people have appreciation for poor November.
Love that poem, Gretchen; it fits the feeling I’ve got over here, perfectly. It seems that everyone is saying it’s fall: they’re putting out fall decor, their fall wardrobe, etc., I know the date fall falls on (!) and I know meteorologists say the autumn months are September, October and November. With that in mind, I am just going by the feeling. It has been cooler here, but still summer-like. It’s late summer-feeling. But that poem hits it on the head, because September is such a transitional month. I’ll have to copy this down! xo
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Lovely!
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