“Why Summers May Never Be the Same” The globe’s warmest months on record redefined summer for many Americans. —Julie Bosman reporting from Chicago, where it is 84 degrees in October, for The New York Times, October 5, 2023
Even though summer heat
Has stopped by to remind us
That we are living in precarious times,
Autumn is unmistakably upon us.
The light is liquid gold,
Long, lanky afternoon shadows
Are sprawling all over
The houses and gardens and lawns
Up and down the block,
And there is something about
The taste and smell of the air,
Something leafy and loamy
And earthily aromatic.
Even though summer heat
Has stopped by to remind us
That we don’t have a whole lot of time left
To flip the climate narrative,
To turn the dire story on its head.
Seasons do still come and go
And will keep doing so
If we are smart enough
And brave enough
And passionate enough
And organized enough
To resist the despoilers of earth and air,
Confiscate their piggy banks,
And stick the spoiled kids back
In their play houses and their little red wagons
Until they can learn
To get with the program
And play for the team.