Last nights of summer
last weekend of summer calls for late night windsor pizza
making traditions in chewy dough & melted Galati
stuffing mouths with sweet & salty filling bellies before bed
as the last Saturday of summer vacation slips into
the tomorrow of a new year
that begins in the sultry month
of September – Crayola marker stripes
vibrant, promising, not yet faded from
the press of fingers colouring in
maps of Canada
title pages
plastic caps
loaded with
teeth marks
VANESSA SHIELDS, writer 