The end of August can be somewhat bittersweet: The warm, lazy days of Summer are slowly becoming a sweet memory. Parents, students and teachers are gearing up for a new school year to begin and college campuses have already begun conducting classes. Baseball season is winding down while high school soccer games and football practice are largely underway. But, even though the Great New York State Fair and Labor Day officially mark the end of the Summer season, Summer stays with us until September 21! Days remain mostly warm and sunny, the nights a bit cooler. And, although tall, golden-eyed Sunflowers have settled back home facing East, there remain colorful songbirds at the feeder and the hum of cicadas and crickets are still lulling us to sleep.
This time of year clearly resonates with many of our haiku contributors who savour this slow transition to Autumn. Sheila Forsyth’s (Fayetteville 2014) haiku says goodbye to Summer with a beautiful image:
Evening cricket plays farewell to Summer on its hind leg violin
As does Ellen Barnes’ (Syracuse 2014) haiku:
Sunflower faces A swoosh of yellow and black: Goldfinch dinnertime
And, Jay Cox (Pompey 2010) pays homage to Summer’s end with this expansive and thoughtful haiku:
Monarch butterflies dance with fading wildflowers as the sun slides low
We wanted to share with you a series of delightful haiku posters from our collection which clearly display these final “daze” of Summer. Enjoy!
From our 2009 Series, Artist: Q. Cassetti and Poet: David Hitchcock who writes: “Although I’m often inspired by the interplay of sound and thought, I also write about my own experiences and try to put into words memories that will resonate with others. In these poems, I want people to say, “Yes, I remember that feeling.” I also think a little humor can open them to thoughts that they may not have had otherwise. So here the poem opens with a little humor, two puns in four words. Then it becomes slightly nostalgic, remembering summer as a child, and how fast it goes, and how baseball games and swimming can remind us of that time. There’s all that in just three little lines.
Chiefly close to home, / catching fast flying Summer / in a baseball mitt.
From our 2011 Series, Artist: Keisha Cedeno and Poet: Lori DiCaprio-Lee:
When the Great Fair comes / school cannot be far behind / Summer ends too soon
From our 2002 Series, Poet: Martin Walls and Artist: James Ryan, now an Illustration teacher in Central Massachusetts:
Fizz of cicadas / Slows as evening cools—lights hum / On in Armory Square
