Song for Summer

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

In the days that creep toward summer,
have you noticed how the flowers 
have become practiced at rising into  
the sky and give no hint of the  darkness

from which they emerged? They choose

to be bold. And do you think about the

trees hosting all the little cupped nests and

the little cupped nests holding something

precious that will have to make its way

into the world by taking a risk on an impossible

dream? Can you hear the humidity like I can

hear the humidity, coming alive, growing its own

body out of nothingness? Some people complain

about it, but not me. I know this shroud and

how a woman is to wear it. A dragonfly crosses

paths with a butterfly down by the pond

where the green frog sits edge-wise on

a stone in the sun. Into the night the bats take insects

on wing and the barred owls speak out the only

question they know. This is where I live: in this

place of welcoming and celebration. Summer is on

her way. I will meet her on the porch steps,

wearing my shroud.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Conversations with Mary: Words of Attention and Devotion"

Winner of the Nautilus Book Award silver medal for poetry

Feel free to share