Leaving

Today, lingering clouds slid open
and the sun took full advantage,
just after the ghost of a shower you would have missed
if not for the freckled flagstone

You planted pansies before the rest of the rain
that waited for darkness,
damp earth under your nails,
pure purple blossoms defying the season

Summer’s gloaming and a heavy yearning for sleep,
the silenced crickets, the quiet hues,
eleven ladybugs tracing noiseless paths toward diapause,
to be without being

Brown body matched to fading trees, legs playing invisible notes
the spider slipped down her fragile tether
into the doorway, face to face
with leaving

You counted the seconds between sailing leaves
until the sky exhaled
and all - at once - let go,
cartwheeling towards tomorrow

~Elizabeth