Weather inclement, forgetting September
the sun then that shone now hard to remember
as the rain and the wind do their best to dismember
the summer I knew at that time
But the precipitation is good for the garden
so I'm not one here for begging their pardon
nomenclature seeming to befit the jargon
of the summer that once was mine
Besides, as we know, this won't last forever
so no one can dwell on the 'never say never'
as weather is fickle and sometimes quite clever
to return to a summer that's fine
And this is heaven, thirty plus
Here in September, all the fuss
of August that abandoned us
when summer wasn't here
The sunshine's hot just overhead
and I am basking here instead
with no bad weather coming dread
now summer's clearly here
In mid-September evening came
the daytime burnt away
emblazoned in a Western sky
the embers of the day
A testament that summer
wasn't done or finished yet
evidenced by what we'd seen
or what we'd get to get
And with last day of August come
we've seen some rain and also sun
Quite a lot of rain and wind
almost as if the month had sinned
with punishment for misdemeanour
summer this month has been meaner
Though as we end on this last day
the sun is back, hip hip hooray
And it is hot and I'm in shorts
just right and proper, as I ought
Pen to paper, three weeks back
when cruel July weather
far from the summer sun we'd known
abandoned altogether
to wind and rain and chilly air
grey skies and sodden ground
Which is not what we'd expect
to see this time of year around
So I'm rather hoping passing time
when these words see light of day
finds summer gracing us again
with sunshine out to play
For really that's what August
with no fickle nuance there
should be to us in summer
for the warmth we love to share
With last years' lavender still in my trug
the time has come round once more
to harvest the crop that I've grown this year
'Cos that's what my lavender's for
So to get things ready I've emptied the trug
piled the seeds in fragrant stacks high
the scent, all pervading, filling the air
so we all walk around with a sigh
Some will find its way to bags full of scent
to keep or as presents to give
and some will remain for contentment to share
in the house where Sal and I live
So now this years' lavender, harvested, cropped
fills my Sussex Trug full to the brim
purple and fragrant but n'er do I mind
for it adds to my deep summer grin
[A Sussex trug is a wooden basket believed to have originated in the 1500’s. It is made from a handle and rim of hand-cleft coppiced sweet chestnut and a body of hand-shaved thin boards of white willow.]
Just finished a series writing of summer
of melting days under the sun
Twelve poems I've written over the years
of which I am proud, every one
For this golden glow into which life began
sixty-four years past in time
has been something that's now a part of me
since nineteen fifty-nine
Sixty-four summers I've had and have held
that's a privilege due thanks are for
and something I quite unequivocally give
as I know there will be plenty more
The gold and the glow of this time of year
the sunshine brings as a treasure
has given me wealth, made me a rich man
gifted freely with grace beyond measure
In bright sunshine behind a wall
I took a snap and captured all
Summer caught in picture frame
The glare, the warmth the sweet refrain
An echo on a silent breeze
The soft sunshine on naked knees
And whispering the meadow grass
waits for the dawning cool to pass
As here stand I admiring this
midsummer smiles with perfect bliss
I feel the sun and see the blue
from all the summers that I knew
This perfect time this purity
Encapsulated here for me
Growing wild on Sussex beaches
Pink Valerian provides
Some colour on the shingle
high above the tides
It grows behind the beach huts
and on the shingle too
Quite beautiful in summer
adding to the view
Four hundred years it’s been here
but now grows mainly wild
Most commonly in Sussex
where the climate is quite mild
When the morning air welcomes
From a night time that’s done
And the wind has died down
Giving warmth to the sun
And the sea’s a flat calm
Now the new day’s begun
The summer of me lives again
When the air is as crystal
And there’s barely a sound
With the dawn’s heavy dew
Still fresh on the ground
And the day lies there’s quietly
As it wants to be found
The summer of me lives again
When the hills of fair Sussex
Are yellow and green
Painted there in bright colours
At the best I have seen
And the blue of the sky
Is a deepening sheen
The summer of me lives again
When the ocean I love
Mirrors skies overhead
And the waves whisper back
Every word that I’ve said
And the shingle reminds me
Of the life I have led
The summer of me lives again
When all of these things
Come together to show
What life is about
For those in the know
And envelop me in their
Comforting glow
The summer of me lives again
...all about me and my life in words. I write most days, carrying an ideas book around in which I capture a word snapshot of life around me. So there's a lot here about Sussex and the sea and anything else I see that inspires.
The pictures are mine too. Some taken to match a poem; some poems written to match a pic; others chosen because they work well with words written.
Jemverse is life in words. Hope you enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy the writing...
Jemverse 