Submission by Marianne Reninger

[Marianne Reninger]

 Unpublished

TURN OF THE WORM

Fruit is optimum when it's crisp, tart, and firm,

Unblemished, never soft, spotted and overblown.

Ripe blueberries hang on high-bush clusters,

Fecund, decadent, and self-indulgent.  Wasps feast on

Tiny, white worms, that a saltwater bath guards from the tongue.

Cool  breezes, birds on the wing, bees buzzing and building,

Butterflies flitting, some of my favorite summer things.

Summer signals odorous, fat caterpillars, Junebugs, spiders

Spinning, snakes sunning, aphids swarming, this season brings.

Life shouldn't be a hot slog through dry grasses,

Hot pavement or dusty trails, but a spring-green, juicy-stalked

Hunt, ripe for the pickin'.

Spent summer disguises with opulent flowers, and

Sunny disposition hides the over-ripe worm.

I'll await and accept autumn's freefall fate, and be glad of the

Idiom, The worm has turned.

                                                Marianne Larsen Reninger