Summer's Life


SUMMER'S LIFE



And so here we are at the birth of summer,
we see her, bright eyed and sparkling.
And the next thing we know, she is a toddler
in a bright yellow sun suit,
blond hair spilling over her shoulders
blue eyes as spicy as can be.
She looks at you, and you know that she knows
all eyes are upon her,
while finches dart and play in her hair,
she is perfumed in honeysuckle,
her smile lights up the sky.

Soon she is a girl, questioning and bright,
impossibly precious to all,
because we know this cannot last.
Thunder rumbles like a house being moved
as the sky purples, and the air,
once soft, turns electric.
Before our very eyes, she is a teen,
a goddess of rain and renewal,
to wash us clean of waste and ambition.

The air is so thick with summer
I feel the sun has buttered me
like a muffin.

And now she is a woman, potential realized,
become what she was meant to become all along.
She is the moment, the now,
the day that arrives just before tomorrow,
whether it brings storms, or harvests.

And soon, sooner than we would like,
she fades, and robins worry.
The sun reminds herself to set the alarm
for half past spring,
and she sets her mind to rest,
easing herself to sleep,
so that we might prepare, and know,
and wonder, “What did I forget?”

Only the air is still.

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Share with those summer time folks over at DVerse Poets.

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This poem appeared in "Breathing for Clouds" available from Big Table Publishing.
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©2014 Christopher Reilley
 
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Comments

  1. "The air is so thick with summer
    I feel the sun has buttered me
    like a muffin." How I love that! I can see this girl-child, as she grows, and she is lovely. The closing line ends the poem with a sweet stillness.

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  2. So many great lines, but I think this is my favourite: The air is so thick with summer
    I feel the sun has buttered me
    like a muffin.

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  3. This is lillian....cannot figure out how not to be anonymous! sigh...
    I love the personification of August here and her aging as we read. Delightful.
    And these words made me smile:
    "The air is so thick with summer
    I feel the sun has buttered me
    like a muffin."
    Wonderful response to the prompt!

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  4. This is absolutely MESMERIZING! Ah! 😍 I especially admire; "all eyes are upon her,
    while finches dart and play in her hair, she is perfumed in honeysuckle, her smile lights up the sky." Thank you so much for writing to the prompt! ❤

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  5. I love this part: She is the moment, the now,
    the day that arrives just before tomorrow,
    whether it brings storms, or harvests.

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  6. One of my favorite phrases (there are many) is ‘goddess of rain and renewl”

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  7. "so that we might prepare, and know,
    and wonder, “What did I forget?"

    Yes! The end of Summer always fills me with anxiety cause I start to wonder this question.

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  8. This really took me on a journey. Fantastic writing.

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  9. This is a wonderful poem in which August is personified as a woman who comes of age and then goes to the grave. It also captures the stages of life so well.

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  10. Such a beautiful personification, Christopher! Truly lovely.

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  11. Wonder and delight in this one.

    Much💚love

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  12. Just lovely. I can see my daughter and granddaughter here.

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