The Last Porch Night of Summer — An Equinox-Eve Ballad for the Night Summer Hands It Down

[Verse 1]

The fireflies are down to a faithful few,

Hanging lanterns in the velvet dark,

The screen door sighs like it already knows —

Summer's got one night left in her heart.

[Verse 2]

Mama's old rocker still knows my weight,

Creaks a welcome I don't have to earn,

I count the crickets like they're counting back,

Taking stock of everything I've learned.

[Verse 3]

The hay's in the loft and the corn crib's full,

The barn swallows gone about a week or more,

The garden's given all it had to give —

There's gold enough on every hill to pay the score.

[Chorus]

So here's to the last porch night of summer,

The crickets singing the year's last round,

The fields are heavy with a promise,

Summer don't leave — she just hands it down.

[Fiddle Break]

[Verse 4]

Daddy always said the year don't die,

It just takes its boots off at the door,

What looks like leavin' is a harvest hand —

Autumn's keeping every promise summer swore.

[Chorus]

So here's to the last porch night of summer,

The crickets singing the year's last round,

The fields are heavy with a promise,

And the year just hands the harvest down.

[Spoken Outro]

September twentieth. Last warm night on this porch. Tuesday the light tips over — six months sliding down, six months climbing back. And me, I'll be right here: same chair, same river of stars. The year don't end, friends. It just hands you what you grew.