Late July

Late July is a celebration of yellow- a myriad of tiny suns warm the earth -- black eyed susan, marigold, tickweed, hawkweed, sunflower, and coreopsis -- they beam from every garden corner, every field and roadside . . .

Late July is a surfeit of freshness, a ton of tomatoes, a cornucopia of cukes, a maze of maize, a battery of beans . . .

Late July is a pollen-blessed cat, basking in the sunflower's warmth . . .

Late July is a tired woman, a fading beauty
Worn out with all that bearing.
Her back bends; her hair trails down.
She holds the latest babe
And dreams of snow.