Thursday, June 20, 2024

Poetry Friday - One Summer Day

 


created by Linda Mitchell


It's Poetry Friday, and Tabatha Yeatts is hosting HERE on her blog, The Opposite of Indifference. She has a special guest that's resulted in a spectacular poetic interview. Don't miss it! Thanks for hosting, Tabatha! 





            I almost wrote a list of 'summer' things, but ended up with one day of celebration. So many signs of summer have emerged these previous weeks. A favorite is when I'm out walking and find the flax in a nearby park has bloomed! Hooray, it's summer! Happy Solstice!


One Summer Day

 

Bedroom curtains

dance in wisps of summer air.

Callings for unplayed games

send un-tied shoes running out the door.

A watermelon awaits 

the midday of summer sweat,

plump and deepest green.  

The cut unveils a madness of red.

The first bite is taken

with drips of pink laughter

dribbling down the chin.

The sun circles through the afternoon

of Monopoly and naps.

Supper’s cold cuts cool the palate.

We take our iced tea to the porch,

listen to the locusts sing the day’s elegy,

and the sun leaves the fireflies to do their duty.

Linda Baie © 





32 comments:

Irene Latham said...

Ooh, I especially love those last 6 lines! Happy summer, Linda! xo

Linda B said...

Thanks, Irene. Wishing you the same!

Marcie Flinchum Atkins said...

Just beautiful. You've done a lovely job of capturing a perfect summer day.

Tabatha said...

Sounds like a delightful summer! I love that pink laughter dribbling down the chin and the sun circling through the afternoon. Iced tea on the porch is a joy. Thanks, Linda!

Denise Krebs said...

Oh, you have captured summer in this one day. The lines about the watermelon had me smiling and drooling. Beautifully written, summer conveyed in this beauty.

Rose Cappelli said...

Your opening lines are so inviting. Thanks for sharing this perfect summer day.

Linda B said...

Thanks all! Summer time is such a good time to BE! I've been with my granddaughters all day, including lunch & game time & ice cream!

Ramona said...

Linda, what an absolutely perfect summer day! I somehow hoped you were spending it with your grand girls. Your words make me ready for watermelons: "the madness of red," and "drips of pink laughter." Summer delight!

Linda B said...

Thanks, Ramona, amazingly, I spent today's "perfect" summer day with Ingrid & Imogene, first time in a while. They are so busy, growing up, but summer break will help us get together more!

Jone said...

Oh this is the summer day I hope to have soon, time to just be. time for watermelon.

Anonymous said...

took me right back to Pilot Grove summers!

KatApel - katswhiskers.wordpress.com said...

What a feast of a poem, Linda. It's delicious! I love how each of your beautiful takes on familiar experiences flow into new and beautiful ways of saying equally familiar things. Done well! (And so different to the chill that seems to have found us, at last.)

Mary Lee said...

So many beautiful images! I love the "madness of red" and the "pink laughter." My mouth is watering! And how perfect that the locusts sing "the day's elegy."

Linda B said...

Yes, it's time! Thanks, Jone!

Linda B said...

Aw, it runs in my veins! Glad that you remembered, too! Thanks, Jim!

Linda B said...

Thanks, Kat! I did think of you when I posted, wondering how the winter is going! There are wonderful days in that season, too!

Linda B said...

Thanks, Mary Lee, our summer heat is back, too, glad that the east has finished with their higher temps!

Michelle Kogan said...

Love all your alliterative sounds of summer circling through , and the many flavors of summer scooped up, lovely Linda, enjoy all of summer’s celebrations, thanks!

laurasalas said...

So many fabulous images, Linda! I especially love the dancing curtains and that madness of red. And the sun circling through Monopoly and naps. So many wonderfully observed moments that call summer to mind--and I don't even love summer!

Linda B said...

Thank you, Michelle and Laura! It was fun to write from all my summer memories!

Anonymous said...

You mentioned fireflies too this week. I felt like I was right there with you on this day and it sounds like a perfect summer day. Watermelon is a huge favorite at our house! That might have been my favorite part of this poem.

Mandy Robek said...

Didn't mean to be anonymous - Mandy Robek

Karen Edmisten said...

Oh, Linda, this is lovely and I just love those final lines! I'd love to drop by and enjoy that iced tea with you at the end of the day.

Patricia Franz said...

Linda, there is so much summer joy in your poem. It evokes memories for me of how we anticipated the first watermelon of the season and all its juicy stickiness. I need to add, too, that flax waving along our trails and bikepaths has become my newest signature joy of summer! I think periwinkle is my favorite color!

Linda B said...

Thanks, Mandy. I guess many of us look forward to that first watermelon off the vine!

Linda B said...

Wouldn't that be a delight, Karen? Thanks for the possibility anyway!

Linda B said...

Oh, my, I love reading that you love flax, too! It just seems like summer's invitation when I finally see its blooms. Thanks, Patricia, & yes, periwinkle blue is special!

Sally Murphy said...

This is just lovely - took me right to summer from my chilly winter reality. I especially liked the last line: 'the sun leaves the fireflies to do their duty'

Linda B said...

Thanks, Sally, after our very hot day today, I think I'd like to borrow a bit of winter from you!

Margaret Simon said...

This is as it should be on a summer day. I love your last line. "the sun leaves the fireflies to do their duty."

Linda B said...

Thanks, Margaret! Hope you have a nice week ahead!

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

I was a city kid, so the idea of sitting on the porch, listening to the crickets and watching the fireflies sounds so magical, like something out of a dream - or a poem!