End of Summer
An agitation of the air,
A perturbation of the light
Admonished me the unloved year
Would turn on its hinge that night.
I stood in the disenchanted field
Amid the stubble and the stones,
Amazed, while a small worm lisped to me
The song of my marrow-bones.
Blue poured into summer blue,
A hawk broke from his cloudless tower,
The roof of the silo blazed, and I knew
That part of my life was over.
Already the iron door of the north
Clangs open: birds, leaves, snows
Order their populations forth,
And a cruel wind blows.
Stanley Kunitz, “End of Summer” from The Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz. Copyright © 1953 by Stanley Kunitz. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Source: The Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz (W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2002)
Have a favorite line?
Mine: “Blue poured into summer blue”
I loved the blue line too, Cathy! But since you took it, I'll offer this one:
Would turn on its hinge that night.
Reminds me that God can turn our lives on a dime and, even when it looks confusing, it's always for our good and His glory.
Love you 🙂
That's a good one too, Susan — even more so after you shared how God ties into the words.
All for his good and His glory. Amen, sister! Love you too 🙂