love – Shift Key

Haiku 80.21

it’s that time of year
cooler nights and leaves start to
show up on the ground

hot air and high wind
battle for space as branches
sway and squirrels play

fall clouds tease as they
float above the last of the
summer heat I pray

it looks like one of
those up in the air days with
my dreams in the wind

in early fall
leaves float
down

so slowly

one here and
one there

each like a
single tear
for another

summer passing

chipmunks run stop run
some more jump from lawn to fence
to trees then repeat

neighbors outside are
close enough to hear but too
far to understand

when I was a boy
I had very much to say
but no one to tell

a few fallen leaves
blow across the yard hostile
to this late hot spell

I unplug my phone
grab yesterday’s socks
off the dresser

turn off the nightlights
open all the house blinds
and the car patio door

coffee first or clean up
first coffee can wait
today

I shave and clean up in
the loft bathroom and put
on my uniform of the day

with flip-flops

my first cup of the day is
light usually Community
Breakfast Blend instant

while I put the electric
kettle on I take my first
meds of the day to clear

my horrible sinuses

I add hazelnut creamer
and a touch of half & half

I save the killer coffees
for later in the day and
might switch to a little

vanilla creamer or I might
be in a hot tea mood

funny how things change
when I was in the Army in
Bad Kreuznach on my way

in to work I’d stop at the
Kaserne cafeteria for a
large cup of tea where

I’d add sugar and cream
then walk to my office
on the second floor of

the division HQ building
the tea was just right
by that time

good and strong

rarely coffee in those
years now it is rarely tea

oddly I still drink my
first cup of coffee for
the day in a Styrofoam
cup like I did the tea

amazing isn’t it

every morning I go to
Germany and back while
she still sleeps