First Day of Fall

For the first day of fall, from John Updike’s A Child’s Calendar, 1st edition, 1965.

September

The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel–

Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.

The bee, his hive
Well-honeyed, hums,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.