The Pond in Early September

by John Grey

Box turtles bask on rocks.
Frogs bellow from below.
 
The lowest leaves
skirt the surface.
 
An occasional fish
breaks the water barrier,
leaps into the air
then splashes down.
 
A brown snake
lifts its black-capped head,
scans brackish water
for salamanders.
 
It’s the beginning of September.
While summer sun
is still the face of weather,
somewhere, just beyond the trees,
autumn takes a deep breath.

* * *

JOHN GREY is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Willow Review and the Pennsylvania Literary Journal. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the MacGuffin, Touchstone and Willow Review.

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