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Summer Is Here Now
by
Richard Greene


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as I remember it
consecrated by fireworks:
the long languorous days
tedious sometimes
but still sweet;
swimming in the lake
where skin and cool water meet
and fish dart away
from this alien invader;
water slapping on boat or dock
or weaving nets of sunlight on a boathouse wall;
the white froth of bow cleaving wave;
a sail flapping lazily as we come about;
or in a rowboat
suspended between water and sky
waiting for fish to bite;
playing into the dark hours;
and through the night
the myriad sounds of insects
and the lullaby of frogs.


© by Richard Greene.
Used with the author's permission.

 


Richard Greene began writing poetry in the 8th grade, inspired by the opening lines of Longfellow's “Evangeline”—“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks / Bearded in moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight"—which he was required to read in class. In college, after a classmate deemed Richard’s rhyming poem “trite,” he stopped writing until, a couple of years later, a class with Henry Rago, subsequently editor of Poetry magazine, inspired him to resume his efforts. But poetry fell by the wayside for almost forty years as a busy career in international development consumed his life. As retirement approached, however, Richard’s dedication to poetry returned; he has since published three chapbooks: The Broken Guitar: Poems of War; Becoming Old: Poems of Aging; Painting with Words: Landscapes in Verse; and one full -length collection, To Talk of Many Things: Selected Poems. Richard, who lives in Nyack, New York, shares a "poem of the week" with anyone interested; get on his mailing list by requesting it at greeneplace@gmail.com.

              

 


Post New Comment:
jamvan:
I'm so there....
Posted 07/27/2023 03:35 AM
Anastasia:
Wonderful images, and a wonderful summer day!
Posted 07/26/2023 05:17 PM
Lori Levy:
Great images, beautiful portrayal of summer.
Posted 07/26/2023 02:16 PM
carlpalmer:
A new one on me, had to look it up, bow cleaving wave.
Posted 07/26/2023 12:41 PM
Gilbert Allen:
Vivid and deftly phrased--well done!
Posted 07/26/2023 10:36 AM
Joan Luther:
Feeling the singing summer strolling along.
Posted 07/26/2023 09:29 AM
Wilda Morris:
"weaving nets of sunlight" - just one of the wonderful images!
Posted 07/26/2023 09:05 AM
David:
Very nice. I love the imagery of weaving nets of sunlight on a boathouse wall.
Posted 07/26/2023 08:24 AM
KevinArnold:
I like this: or in a rowboat suspended between water and sky and the strong ending
Posted 07/26/2023 07:44 AM


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