EQUINOX

It sounds like a drug
for the infirmed
or a dressing for horses’ hooves

or a government program
to keep poverty alive
and consuming—

it sounds soothing
to the summer-baked subconscious,
a galactic reprieve

before the leaves rain 
in gusts 
before the first storm

stirs weathered flesh.
Autumnal Equinox
just rolls off the tongue.