Shine on, O moon of summer.
Shine to the leaves of grass, catalpa and oak,
All silver under your rain to-night.
Carl Sandburg, Back Yard
Remembering Summer Nights
I remember summer moons and steamy nights,
the sky, watercolor-washed in silver wings.
I remember light, flooding through gauzy curtains,
breezes, not enough to cool our youthful bodies.
I remember fireflies and cricket songs and frogs
calling for their mates from nearby ponds.
I remember honeysuckle sweet, the bitter
taste of cherries, culled too soon.
I remember early love, the sweaty palms
and kisses stolen on a neap tide shore
I remember yesterday, your craggy cheeks
and rheumy eyes that stare into the void.
It’s for you I write these things, digging deep
into the treasures of our past for you.
Can you remember now?
Photo: Wikipedia
Labeled for Noncommercial Reuse
For Tuesday Poetics, Walt invited us to use a summer quote from a well-know poet or writer as a starting point for a poem of our own. I’ve picked up the theme again for Open Link Night, hosted by Grace at dVerse Poets Pub. We would love to have you visit, contribute and read other poets with a poem of your own–any form, any topic.
The ending of poem is fictional, inspired by my involvement in the care of elderly couples over the years–so often one is the caregiver for the other with dementia. The verses leading up to that are mine.
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 