My Summer Moments

“How was your summer?”

It’s how we start all of our conversations this time of year. Right? Although technically summer is not yet over, with the start of school we act as if it is and our conversations reflect this posture. The first essay our children will be asked to write for their teachers may very well be the perennial favorite, “What I did over summer vacation.”

Instead of fighting it, I’ve asked the Muses to play along. Over the next few weeks, we each will present our version of the summer essay. For me, it’s a set of poems I wrote and a few photos I took throughout the past three months. These are my moments that provide the connective tissue for this season.

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Scent of
apple blossom and cut grass –
almost summer

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Family cabin
on the lake –
We squeeze ourselves
back into
our bunks.

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What keeps me
here – the threads
you can’t see

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The flame
the stain
the stories
he’d tell
from the kiln

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Shape of wet sand
between my fingers – cleaning
stones for skipping

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In absentia
Another tree ring
while we wait

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Warble of night
flight over water – the wind
asking, “Why?”

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That look we get when
we talk about people who
talk about people

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Reading Rilke
under the maple tree;
slow sticky morning

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Morning commute – I saw Superman
fly fast on his bike – gray hair
slicked back, big loose smile
hovering over the S
on his chest