Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Laura Shovan for Roundup.
This week I have been learning again how to relax! I don't know if this happens to you, but after a period of intense activity (2 months of many presentations and mad revisions!), it's taken me a couple of weeks to wind down... and this week, finally, I felt myself sink into the days, my mind not constantly cataloging what needs to be done next. Also this week I was able to connect with some dear-to-me folks, so that certainly has added to my sense of peace and contentment. I guess I'm summering! And I hope you are too.
Here's my latest ArtSpeak: FOUR SEASONS poem. Thank you so much for reading.
When night rises,
shadows fall—
warm stars
welcome all
across the yard,
across the dark—
where lightning bugs
leave their mark.
How these summer
evenings
glitter-gleam!
Each blink
both a heartbeat
and forever
as Sun settles in
to dream.
- Irene Latham
You describe the end of a school year for me. Easily, it takes me two weeks to calm down enough to enjoy summer. I'm so glad you are feeling the summering. And, friends make is precious time. Love the night rising to shadows falling. Lovely movement in those opening lines.
ReplyDeleteIrene, I love the "glitter-gleam" of the summer evenings where "lightning bugs / leave their mark"
ReplyDeleteYou have captured a sweet bit of summering here, and I'm so glad you are able to slow down and enjoy it!
I'd like to float away on your closing lines,
ReplyDelete"as Sun settles in
to dream."
Sounds soothing, comforting, and enchanting! Nice painting too, thanks Irene!
It's not summertime without the fireflies. I'll think of the heartbeat in your poem when I go out to watch them tonight.
ReplyDeleteAh, the memory of lightning bugs glitter gleaming in the twilight!
ReplyDeleteI'm currently living in a part of the world where twilight time is brief and often accompanied by cold chilly winds and rain. Your words however warm me Irene and remind me of where we will eventually return. I love the gloaming, that soft fading light at the going down of the sun. You captured it so well in your closing line.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe TEN months of intense activity? Yes, the end of a school year, and that feeling that maybe something's wrong with you, and then you realize that it's adrenaline withdrawal. This poem is so beautifully moody, Irene. Aren't lightning bugs a miracle>
ReplyDeleteOr maybe 37 YEARS of intense activity?
ReplyDeleteThe lightning bugs, the first zinnia planted from seed, the possibility of tomatoes, the damage of the damned four-line beetles that my basil will survive so I can make pesto again. All of it.
I have many happy memories of catching lightning bugs. To me, they are the "heartbeat" of summer. Your words are beautiful and soothing. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the sun settling in to dreaming, Irene! And hope you, too, are loving settling in, maybe with some dreaming, too. Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteWhat better way to slow down and settle into summer than watching the "glitter-gleam" of lightening bugs! Beautiful language in this poem.
ReplyDeleteLove this twilight poem, Irene. It is a time when many of us forget the day - and that's a good thing! We are at our cabin and I had to ask my husband what day it was just the other day. Time slows here. And, that is a good thing too! Carol @ The Apples in My Orchard
ReplyDeleteHow lovely for you to slow down, like the day falls into evening. I hope you have lots of twilight time. I love "each blink a heartbeat and forever. "
ReplyDeleteI love the mood you've created in your poem and these lines especially:
ReplyDelete"Each blink
both a heartbeat
and forever"
I'm so glad to hear you're summering! Enjoy every moment.
Summering is as much a feeling as it is an action. There is a sense of peace when we settle in with the flow of life. You described this beautifully in your intro. Then, your poem shares how nature settles in with peace for summer evenings. This summer is the right time for all of us to settle in and believe in the power of summering. Happy 4th of July. I had the little ones at my house for the weekend so there was no time to read through PF posts until now. I feel so life-rich this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis is so lovely, Irene. "How these summer evenings glitter-gleam" is exactly right. Wishing you more time to relax and "sink into your days."
ReplyDelete