Year: 2025

It can’t be “Summer”!
That – got through!
It’s early – yet – for “Spring”!
There’s that long town of White – to cross –
Before the Blackbirds sing!
It can’t be “Dying”!
It’s too Rouge –
The Dead shall go in White –
So Sunset shuts my question down
With Cuffs of Chrysolite!

In biblical times and ancient history, “chrysolite” referred to various yellowish and greenish stones, a versatile term for expensive and prized gems. Olivine (Chrysolite) is considered a hard mineral, ranking between 6.5 and 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, which means it is harder than glass and can scratch it.

Nice to see a fun poem amid the pain and introspection. ED manages to sneak in “Summer”, “Spring”, and “Dying” with caps and quotes, usually signals of metaphors, but they aren’t obvious here.

“So Sunset shuts my question down” begs a question mark somewhere, but it’s only implied.

ED poses a riddle: What season is it?

One by one she tells us the season is not summer, spring, fall, or winter, in that order. Lines 1-3 imply the weather is warm and the sunset gorgeous. So, what’s the answer to ED’s riddle?

She got us! It’s Indian Summer, of course.

These are the days when Birds come back—
A very few—a Bird or two—
To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies resume
The old—old sophistries of June—
A blue and gold mistake.

Oh fraud that cannot cheat the Bee—
Almost thy plausibility
Induces my belief.

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear—
And softly thro’ the altered air
Hurries a timid leaf.

Oh sacrament of summer days,
Oh Last Communion in the Haze—
Permit a child to join.

Thy sacred emblems to partake—
Thy consecrated bread to take
And thine immortal wine!

Apparently, ED never took communion at church, as a child because of Christian custom or as an adult because of agnostic honesty. But both children and agnostics can joyously partake in the Sacrament of Indian-Summer, its bread and wine the golden hues and crisp cool air.