The side-door hanging-plant,
Petunias, red and white,
cheerful Flora of the House,
since June,
came down today.

October pinched her smiles
to faint reminders
of what water, sun
and
Miracle-Gro can do.

I detached its sling myself
from the soffit-fixture,
an anchoring hook.
It’s one of those recurring jobs
on the To-Do List each fall.

Chrysanthemums are what count today,
in army lingo, Front and Center,
while the discarded Petunias
struggle atop the summer’s detritus
out back.

The Mums will join them soon enough
and our jack o’ lantern, too,
snaggled-toothed monarch,
Liege of the Rickle,
until the leaves arrive.

Then all give way
to a winding sheet of snow
obscuring what once was green then brown
the Cycle for the year complete.

Still, the curled finger of the
soffit-hook beckons
for next year.
Will I respond?
Best to take it day by day.

Perhaps next June,
I’ll be around
to raise more
Petunias at the door,
and we’ll have another go.