You've come to say goodbye,
but it's hard,
so you linger here
in these late days of summer,
my tennis shoes, now dusty and thin,
my bicycle resting by the sidewalk
harboring one dried rose petal in its tattered basket.

Together we've exhausted those days behind us,
absorbed every moment under the sun, the moon,
the stars that listened to us as we gazed upward
from blades of balmy grass.
We've spent our time, and then some.

You'll linger awhile, still,
because it is so hard to go.

So please, sit with me while the sun hesitates to set,
until the last firefly wisps away one night
and forgets to return to say, "So long."
Sit with me until my face grows cold,
and my breath tarries in the air.

Stay with me until our memories
are blanketed by September's bold leaves,
and summer cicadas sing their final farewell.

Somehow, just stay...