Darkness comes early

After months of days that stretched like taffy

Darkness comes early

Laying exhausted on hot pavement afternoons

Before snuggling beneath a light blanket of cool evenings

Darkness comes early

With the smell of a charcoal grill

Clinging to their hair

And vinegary barbecue sauce under their fingernails

Darkness comes early

Trailing short days

Like a line of pencil yellow school buses

crunching over a fresh carpet of green acorns

To carry away the last of late summer