Thoughts in September

My face glowed the day they left me
Freed from home we wanderered in the woods
Senses buzzing, like standing by the sea
Blowing with the wind, rolling with the floods
At night white curtains fluttered
Soft breathing deepened, red lights burned
I awoke as a mower gently spluttered
On the lawns below where summer yearned
To be young again and fight the flaming tide
Of lonely autumn, its rustling fields,
Its sudden storms, a threat implied
Of snow-grey skies when sunshine yields
To days when night seems never to end
And we sit in class in a poorly-lit room
Wondering if a mighty storm will send
Us hurtling into space's endless gloom
And the black outside will be littered with stars
Not thick with wind and rattling rain
We'll cruise by the moon, past blood-red Mars
Eyes wide with wonder at the window-pane.