Don't Drink Bees

Children
Leaping from the highest tree branches
Cartwheeling across the pavement
Joining hands with others, dancing in circles
Then falling into the grass out of breath

A second wind
And they are
Flying down the sidewalk, racing one another
Diving into the river, floating downstream
Then drying themselves on the sun-soaked banks

I try to gather them together
But they run from me giggling
For another game of
Hide and seek with the wind

They make the most of each passing day
These, my Autumn children