October

The water loses its colour
Flowers turn away from the sky
Orange dissolves in pinks
And the day continues to slip away

The memory of a certain warmth is drifting
Somewhere in the night air
It floats past the final stragglers of the day
It welcomes them into its embrace

This warmth knows each and every straggler by name
And every summer it arrives
And every summer with love
It welcomes the stragglers
To bathe in its rich beauty

By the evening the warmth has reached its prime
Crisp and soft
Weaving through the streets with a quiet confidence
Offering bliss to anybody who might be near

Yet the stragglers pay no notice

Faces down, coats fastened
Their heads swim through the day just passed
Empty events dominate their swirling attentions
Locked in between half-tuned broadcasts

At the height of summer, the warmth felt invincible
With barely a finger lifted
Each and every straggler was caught in its gaze
And fell into its hands
They lazed in its havens
They cleansed themselves with its simplicity

Yet the summer has come to an end

The warmth smiled down on stragglers
Who now stare at the floor
The warmth was held by stragglers
Who now hold nothing but their thoughts
The warmth smiled down on stragglers
Who now stare at the floor
The warmth was held by stragglers
Who now hold nothing but their thoughts
The warmth smiled down on stragglers
Who now stare at the floor
The warmth was held by stragglers
Who now hold nothing but their thoughts

And now it is so tired