55 Summers

I’ve seen the sun in seven decades
Though I don’t remember all
The first one from my year of birth
When I was really rather small

But in those ’60s halcyon days
The summers never seemed to end
And the sun was always present
As a dear and special friend

Then the ’70s teenage years
Long summers on the beach
Fading out to meet my twenties
Back then just out of reach

The ’80s saw a marriage
Two lives becoming one
A wedding in the summer
‘Neath the ever-present sun

Into the ’90s and the children
Four joining two made us complete
In sunshine-captured memories
Long days of summer heat

Two thousands and the twenty-tens
The children are now all grown
Yet constant are the summers
That as a family we have known

Mid-fifties now, the sun’s still here
I’m sitting in it now
Relaxing in my garden
With its heat upon my brow

I might have been in seven decades
But there are many more to come
And I’ll look forward to those future years
With my friend, the summer sun

©Jemverse

Green

‘Neath years of hacked back overgrowth
The border stolen from our view
Is now transformed as nature
Covers it with grass anew

Encouraged by late summer sun
And fed by autumn rain
A lush green carpet now appears
Giving garden space again

©Jemverse

Autumn’s Call

Pale white shrouding golden glow
Hovering over water, slow

Morning waking, slumber stays
Green peers slowly from the haze

Whimsy holds, removed I see
A world at distance, wistfully

Wished that it was me out there
Fancy free without a care

Yet from a window all I see
Is brick and concrete facing me

The golden glow still on these walls
But it’s from the hills that Autumn calls

©Jemverse

Precious days again

And this morning I have made resolve
As precious days are these
Too few to squander, waste away
A circumstance to seize
Soon the days will close right in
As Winter’s hand takes hold
These days of warmth are precious now
Soon shadow, gloom and cold
I always was a Summer’s child
Born and bred as one
So I’ll see these last few golden days
Until the season’s done
And even then I shall not fret
For memories will be clear
And days of counting soon will pass
Before the Springtime cheer

©Jemverse

The Brighter Side

The brighter side is always
The better place to see
Whatever life may throw at us
And wherever we may be
There may be situations
We would rather not be in
But there’s usually something good to find
To bring a smile or grin
Learning from the Pythons
Helps to lessen stress and strife
Humming inwardly and looking
On the brighter side of life

©Jemverse

Autumn rain

In the half-light of an Autumn dawn
When the day is not quite there
The lightest drizzle falls to earth
And freshens up the air

They say there will be sunshine
At some point in the day
But as light returns, the sky above
Is painted pale grey

The rain is not unwelcome though
As it falls from slate-grey sky
For it turns to green the grass beneath
And the water-table’s high

©Jemverse

Indigenous to summer

I am indigenous to summer
Without it I migrate
Hibernating inwardly
Into a sleeping state

Without the sun I’m hollow
It is my succour and my strength
When not there I seek to find it
To almost any length

I’m wary of these cooling days
As the warmth begins to wane
But take comfort in the welcome thought
That it will return again

©Jemverse

Shoreham revisited

Coming home to Shoreham
Still does its thing for me
Nestled underneath the Downs
A portal to the sea
Charming in the sunshine
Special in the rain
Changing with the seasons
But somehow staying just the same
Squirrels in the churchyard
St Mary’s in the sun
The sound of bells at every hour
Til the day is done
Marlipins Museum
Coronation Green
Mudflats on the river
The sea, a shimmering sheen
Walking round about this town
Does it every time
Fills my heart with cheer
And makes me feel just fine

©Jemverse

What the sun does (revisited)

Yellow, warming, lifts my soul
Catches me and comforts. Gives me strength
Encourages smiles when smiles are scarce
Breathes contentment
It is a friend, closer in the summertime
More distant in winter chill. But always there
Always listening. Always rooting for my best interests
It is lavender and jasmine and honeysuckle
Combined and lingering in the evening air
That is, simply, what the sun does

©Jemverse

Kayaking

On the beach in mid-September
Sitting on the still warm sea
Paddling out ‘cross flat-calm water
Happy as a sandman, me

To the buoy, the outer marker
Waves are choppier out here
Behind, the land, a distant ribbon
Deceptive though as still quite near

Bobbing on the waves I ponder
From the water, perfect bliss
Looking out to Sussex coastline
What in life can better this?

©Jemverse