I am fond of this poem, which I also posted a few years ago in August. I am fortunate to be on the lake twice this month, first in Goodhart (north of Harbor Springs) and then on Grand Haven’s North Shore. Life is good, but fall is coming. That’s OK, though. As Jordan Baker said in The Great Gatsby, “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
AUGUST ON LAKE MICHIGAN
August is Lake Michigan’s way
of clearing boats from her bays
and bonfires from her beaches,
the month when cottage owners
give up the idea of staining the deck
and call painters who vaguely promise
to look at the job after Labor Day –
an elaborate, necessary fiction
understood by painter and owner alike.
“How much longer ‘ya up here?”
is the talk at August gatherings,
while glum shopkeepers post signs
proclaiming END OF SEASON SALE
and lower prices to full retail.
August’s big waves and wind
chase off all but the fortunate few.
Now the lake can rest
and gather her strength to face
November’s fearsome roar.
– Joseph Neely
My book, SLOW RIVERS, can be ordered through your local bookstore or online via bookshop.org. (ISBN 979-8-218-43822-7).
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The Occasional Poem 