THE DESTRUCTION OF SUMMER

her father
takes her
up the hill

and even though
he walks slow
she has to run to

catch up
and soon
they arrive

gaze over
where they have
come from

the red barn
tiny as a toy
but still itself

the stream
flowing nearby
a clump of trees

a road meanders
running to somewhere
or other

and there barely
the lady scarecrow
dressed in pink

almost only
imagined
but there nonetheless

now as winter
draws in
the summer hidden under snow

he leaves
by her sleeping
the summer she saw

a perfect replica
of the time
gone

even down
to the lady scarecrow
dressed in pink

and so it remains
for years
after he is gone

until her dog
excited by her return
jumps up and

summer tumbles
to destruction
scatters over the floor

she tries not to
scold the dog
cries silently

still feels
her father's hand
in hers