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Thursday, May 9, 2019

Poetry Friday - Summer Tunes

Liz Steinglass hosts this Poetry Friday, celebrating and sharing some poems in the process of the writing of her poetry book, out very soon. It's SoccerVerse! Congratulations, Liz, and thanks for hosting!







        I enjoy every April when poets come together to write for Irene Latham's Progressive Poem. You can see the latest and those of past years here. And this April, Donna Smith beautifully set the poem to music, sang and played it for us on her ukelele. And I loved the latest poem because I love summer, too, and enjoyed everyone's words of summer as intros to the lines.
         And then came SUMMER! I try hard not to take home very many books from the used bookstore where I volunteer. I help with donations on Thursday and sometimes a book appears that feels like one that's meant for me. This is one, nearly thirty years old, filled with essays and poems of summer memories, attitudes, even regrets. It is divided into three sections: The Door to Summer, When Time Was Here and Between Wild and Sheltered. Calvin Trillin writes about chiggers; Daniel Okrent shares his baseball passions in the summer at Cooley Lake (a summer retreat), and Louise Erdrich tells how her family begins summer in the winter. Each entry makes me want summer more, my beach trip, a trip to visit my brother and other relations, lazier days outside. 



        Among other poems in the book, I'm sharing this Summer Morning by Charles Simic. You can listen to him reading it here

I love to stay in bed
All morning,
Covers thrown off, naked,
Eyes closed, listening.

Outside they are opening
Their primers
In the little school
Of the cornfield.

There’s a smell of damp hay,
Of horses, laziness,
Summer sky and eternal life.

I know all the dark places
Where the sun hasn’t reached yet,


And see all the poem here.

       There is much to love and to choose from. Early in the book, Elizabeth Hardwick writes "The congratulation of summer is that it can make the homely and humble if not exactly beautiful, beautifully acceptable. Such brightness at midday and then the benign pastels, blues and lavenders of the summer sky. Much may wither and exhaust, but so great is the glow and greater the freedom of the season that every extreme will be accommodated."

She ends with "Summer, the season of crops. The concreteness of it. Not as perfumed and delicate and sudden as spring and not as triste as autumn. Yet, for the enjoyment of summer's pleasures, for the beach, the crowded airplane to Venice, most of us consent to work all year long."

         Summer's coming. . .

        I do love Liz's challenge last week at Michelle's Today's Little Ditty and had a poem I wrote to it, shared Thursday. So, I couldn't resist one more, Liz and Michelle, about summer!

Instructions for Summer

Blast me with your beautiful extremes:
daylight till near bedtime,
frightening thunderstorms,
a cold Independence Day.
I’ll still love you.
Paste memories in my mind:
carny tilt-a-whirls,
State Fair lambs and blue ribbons,
ice cream truck melodies.
I will remember.
Grow grand gardens for cellar jars:
tomatoes and green beans,
cucumbers and carrots,
but avoid too much zucchini.
I will love them and share.
Prepare me for autumn:
turn pumpkins orange,
drop a leaf or two,
plan with the birds.
Even ending, I’ll love you.


Linda Baie ©

35 comments:

  1. I liked these lines from "Summer Morning"
    "A stone cracks a knuckle,
    Another turns over in its sleep."
    I like to think they have feelings too, as does your "Instructions for Summer." How generous you are to take her all in stride and love her at the end.
    Happy Mother's Day Linda!

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    1. Thanks, Michelle. I love that line, too, a wonderful poem. Happy Mother's Day to you as well!

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  2. Yes- that final line in Instructions For Summer- perfect.

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  3. Wow! What a productive week you've had with beautiful words. The book sounds wonderful and rich in poems. I love that last stanza "And all of a sudden
    In the midst of that quiet,
    It seems possible
    To live simply on this earth."
    Your reading certainly prepped you for your gorgeous poem. So MANY wonderful images...those cellar jars, thunder, a cold Independence Day. I feel like I've lived it and they are also my memories. Well, done.

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    1. Thanks, Linda. It was lots of fun to discover and read this book, now waiting a few more weeks for summer!

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  4. Wonderful poem of yours, Linda - so many images and sensations. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know that Simic poem - "Summer sky and eternal life" - it is one that will offer more each time it's visited, I think. Thank you for being so alive to each season!

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    1. Thank you, too, Robyn. I'm glad you enjoyed the Simic poem. It is one to return to, I agree.

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  5. O those beautiful extremes! I love your celebratory poem, Linda... and that book sounds happy-making... in fact, many of my ARTSPEAK: Happy! poems ended up being about summer. xo

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    1. Summer does bring "happy" memories, I know, Irene. Yes, the book is wonderful. Thanks!

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  6. When I was teaching, I looked forward to summer every year as a time of refreshment. Now I'm retired, and every day is summer.

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    1. Yes, I agree about the teaching time. Summer during this month especially beckoned to us. Thanks, Deb.

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  7. This book sounds like a treasure. I love your Instructions for Summer. I especially love the way your bold lines become a poem within in a poem. Brilliant! Happy Mother's Day!

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    1. Thanks, Linda. I didn't notice about the bold lines, but you're right! Thank you, & Happy Mother's Day to you, too.

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  8. I love every. single. word. of this!! (and I am looking forward to summer, as it's 34 degrees here this morning!)

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    1. Yes, still cold this am, too, but the sun is out! Thanks, Jane, warmer to come!

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  9. Love this whole post, Linda. What a great find. Thanks for sharing Simic's poem and the great Hardwick quotes, and of course, for your wonderful poem. Your instructions are just perfect!

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    1. Thank you, Jama. I think I'll enjoy the book all summer long!

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  10. Oh my goodness, Linda! How did you manage to come up with two wonderful instructional poems in one week? Such a beautiful celebration of summer here today with Simic's poem and your own! Summer has arrived here in Florida, so hang tight, it will be arriving at your neck of the woods before you know it. :)

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    1. Thanks, Michelle. I am rather caught up in the challenge, but this time, too, this new big book of summer has enchanted me, like Simic's poem, the other poetry & the essays. It is warmer today, supposed to keep warming up in the next week! Hurrah for summer!

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  11. Such a wonderful blog post, Linda, to get me ready for summer with its "summer sky and eternal life". The first poem and the reading of it let me linger in summer thoughts. Then, you followed with your Instructions for Summer poem. The beginning got me ready: "Blast me with your beautiful extremes" that leads into "Prepare me for autumn". I'm ready!

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    1. And I just came from your own celebration, Carol, of autumn! It is wonderful anticipation to imagine summer coming, and then our glorious autumn that we certainly all love. I'm glad you enjoyed my post today. Thanks!

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  12. Both poems are full of wonderful imagery and memory, Linda! I love Simic' work, as I feel there's a connection to those other two NH poets, Frost and Hall (the latter of which he succeeded as US Poet Laureate). Thanks for sharing!

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    1. All come from a similar place, perhaps that is a connection that happens when that background is shared. Thanks, Matt.

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  13. What a brilliant find! I loved both of these poems here. My head is now spinning with all kinds of imagery, especially the vegetable bit. I finally got my own garden in last week, and now the waiting begins.

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    1. Oh, there's a poem in there about the waiting, Cheriee! Gardeners' anticipation! Thanks!

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  14. Oh Linda, the last line of the Simic poem really hit me. I am feeling my optimism slipping away recently, but I am fighting to find ways to keep it. Your poem is lovely. My favorite line is Grow grand gardens for cellar jars, but not too much zucchini! Ha! It feels good to smile and laugh.

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    1. I'm happy that Simic's line & some of mine made you smile, Liz. That's the best thing! Thank you!

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  15. I'm at the time in May when I feel my students slipping away. I am not a fan of May. It goes by too quickly and there is so much more I wanted to do. But your poem about summer helps me see the good things coming.

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    1. Yes, I remember, Margaret. May is filled with mixed feelings for teachers. I imagine summer will bring more time with your new grandbaby! Thank you!

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  16. Your tribute to summer is making me long for it even though I wilt in the heat. I hope summer follows all you instructions! Happy Mother's Day!

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  17. Simic has so SO many amazing sensory details in his poem! I love the "form" you created in yours -- the strong-verb-main-ideas, the lists, and the stanza-ending "I will"s.

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  18. Thanks, Kay and Mary Lee. Happy you enjoyed my summer tribute!

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  19. Linda, I love that opening line! Summer is not my favorite season, but this book looks so appealing. I will check it out.

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    1. The book is full of poetry and prose, kind of a memoir about summer, Laura. If you find it, perhaps you'll be inspired to write about another season? Thanks!

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