Mid-October Surprise

Like a fighting battalion

Of the Royal Scots Guards

The dahlias and black eyed

Susans are standing watch

Over the back yard

Waiting for the first frost’s

Inevitable assault

It’s mid-October

And still this

Little garden spot 

Rich in morning sunlight

Is somehow managing to
Maintain itself in full bloom

(version 2)

Like a fighting battalion

Of the Royal Scots Guards

The dahlias and black eyed

Susans are keeping watch

Over the back yard

Waiting for the first frost’s

Inevitable advance

It’s mid-October

And still this

Little garden spot 

Rich in morning sunlight

Is somehow managing to

Maintain full bloom

Reoriented to attend

To the tenuous warmth of

The sun's more southerly slant