Late Summer in Retirement

In these days of rest in mid-September
Garden work is finished for the season
Trees are green but on the cusp of turning
Sunset colors splash the sky by seven

We venture out near dusk when warm enough
For a patio-table game of cards or two
The wind is still, geese honks burst out at random
A mower hums its song two houses down

We laugh faux accusations of card cheating
Under the tap of a woodpecker’s steady beat
I tap too and shuffle, tap and shuffle
Deal one last hand before we lose the light

Aromas from our neighbors barbecuing
Reminds us we, too, must soon fix dinner
Content with quiet rhythms of late summer
Is this the mid-September of our lives?

 Day Twenty-five prompt:

Write a poem that:
   — Is specific to a season
   — Uses imagery that relates to all five senses
   — Includes a rhetorical question

Photo was taken last September in my back yard; it was edited using PaintShop Pro

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