An Ending

After the weeks of unrelenting heat

A rainy day brings August to an end

As if in ceremony. The spirit, dry

From too much light too steadily endured,

Delights in the heavy silver water globes

That make change from the sun's imperial gold;

The mind, relieved from being always brilliant,

Goes forth a penitent in a shroud of grey

To walk the sidewalks that reflect the sky,

The line of lights diminishing down the street,

The splashed lights of the traffic going home.