Ode to July, Past, Present, Future

Afterglow                                                                          Catherine Al-Meten

Ode to July, Past, Present, Future

July 1, 2013

Iced tea, lemon ade

Vichyssoise, Gazpacho

Lazy summer days.

Bonfires, barbecues

picnics, softball games

Lazy summer evenings.

Barefoot walks in the sand,

rafting streams and wild rapids

Quiet talks on the veranda.

Sleep outs in the backyard,

Swimming beneath the stars,

Time stops in memories.

Long walks to cool libraries

Chores at home, trips afar

Changing pace of life.

Swimming beyond the breakers,

Riding a wave to shore

Feeling the warm sun on my body.

Scent of suntan lotion, seaweed

Chocolate malts, bean bandits from Don Juan’s

Friends at ease on beach towels beside me in the sand.

Sparklers, lighting the patio and our spirits

Indoor picnics to escape the heat

Twilight Zone marathons.

Picking strawberries, making ice cream

Fishing in the bay or from a pier

Enjoying crab louis, a game of hearts, and simply being near.

Reunions, reveries, long talks and sleepless nights.

Falling asleep in sleeping bags by fires

Waking to tree tops edging the morning sky.

Long drives up the interstate

Vapor lock, iced cold cola in tiny bottles

Hours of counting box cars go by.

Washing windows, cleaning out rooms

Painting and finding long hours to read

Baking cakes, listening to Mother’s stories.

Sleeping round a pool, 

watching for Ufos in the night sky

Wondering about the future.

Reading Dostoevsky, Uris, and Du Maurier

Watching The Blob from behind my fingers

Escaping into fantasy, history, the past.

The Source, Forever Amber, Crime and Punishment

War and Peace, Gifts from the Sea, Mr. Wicker’s Window

Treasure Island, and biographies of all the lost queens.

Summer camps and campers

Foray into self discovery, apart from known to unknown

Gazing across vistas of endless mountain ranges.

Riding along steep mountain trails on a painted pony

Sleeping beneath the stars

Casting my lot to the life of a gypsy. 

Lazy mornings waking to white sheets and sunlight

Swimming, and paddling ‘round Avalon harbor

Watching the ship leave harbor, hearing the bells of

St. Catherine’s.

Ship rides between the Island and mainland

Rocking decks, sea spray by the lifeboats

Flying fish and dolphins in the moonlight.

Steaming up car windows

Driving all night for adventure

Sailing at midnight back to land.

Peaceful haven in Father’s garden

Safe and comfort in Mother’s kitchen

Seeking sanctity in a room of my own.

Velvet days, nights along the river

Fluid, constant flow of life

Quiet, peaceful sacred life.

Surrounded by tall stands of pines, yew, and alder

Summer painting evening sky’s glory

Salmon, birds, people flowing back and forth on the tide.

Fewer clothes, more skin

Everything a’flowering

Breath of life alive, warm, immediate.

July--the middle of everything

raw and sacred 

naked in the wind, 

alive in the moment

taste life’s pleasures

feel the richness, freedom,

of being wholly real.

July promises hope

less of everything

greater joy in the essence

of simple, basic, pleasures.

Casting light on each

task as if it were a 

miracle.

And of course, it is.

Catherine Al-Meten

Copyright@2013