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First of September

Matthew Kohut

the blue jays and wrens

are silent this morning


a neighbor’s rooster answers 

the freight train’s distant whistle


a catbird caws in the voice 

of Rudy from Bayonne 


as the chorus of bush crickets

sings the song of September —


it can’t go on, it won’t go on, 

and soon we will be gone

Matthew Kohut has worked as a writer, teacher, and musician for thirty years. His poetry has appeared in Wild Roof Journal, The Dewdrop, and River Heron Review, among other publications. He is the co-author of two books of nonfiction.

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