SUMMER HAIKU by Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694)
Along the mountain road
somehow it tugs at my heart —
a wild violet
Archives for posts with tag: Summer Poem
THE SUMMER DAY
By Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean –
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down –
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
…From New and Selected Poems (Beacon Press, 1992) © 1992, Mary Oliver, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Illustration: “Grasshopper,” interchangeable jewelry available for just $2.37 from obrose.com.
Green was the silence, wet was the light
the month of June trembled like a butterfly.
from 100 Love Sonnets by PABLO NERUDA
Photo: Nimeariel, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
POETRY WRITTEN
by Ivon Prefontaine
Sit quietly,
5:30
AM.
Can’t sleep
wait
listen
pay attention
be patient
meditate
contemplate
focus on breath.
Gently return
to a quiet space
solitude
like a river
single words
phrases form
metaphors arise
images appear
in the current.
Discover a gentle smile
on the corners of lips
face softens.
Fresh day
creates space
for voice
words observed
soul speaks
a summer breeze refreshes
asks to be heard.
Tranquil,
bump into creative moment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ivon Prefontaine is a junior high teacher in a small satellite community of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He regained an appreciation for poetry and found his way back to it after many years. Poetry has reemerged as an integral aspect of his personal expression and complements a growing meditative practice.
Photo: “5:30” by Anne Marthens
“Poetry Written” and other poems by Ivon Prefontaine will appear in the Silver Birch Press SUMMER ANTHOLOGY, a collection of poetry & prose from authors around the world — available June 1, 2013.
NEXT SUMMER
Poem by Joan Jobe Smith
The peaches turned out small this year—
no bigger than apricots.
No one wanted to eat them
one bite off each wasn’t worth it.
I picked them
left the ones on the tree
the butcher birds and meadowlarks
had bitten into, the ants crawling on them,
the funny-looking flies coveting them.
And I left the ones that had fallen onto
the ground, rotting now, because I
liked the way it made the backyard smell.
No one wanted to help me peel them
and slice them because it took
so much time—and I ate some
the ones with a worm on one side
the ones bruised on one side until
my teeth felt sweet and slick
and icy. I let them set overnight
and in the morning the nectar
buoyed the peaches like fat dumplings
in sauce; and I only added a little honey
to thin out the juice so that the peaches
would go farther. When
the crust had browned
and the cobbler removed from the oven
and cooled some in front of the open window
we all ate a bowlful although
it was almost suppertime
and we talked about the things we’ll do with them
next summer when the peaches are bigger.
Painting by June Marie. Find her work here.
Note: “Next Summer” originally appeared in The Wormwood Review:68 — an issue that also featured the work of Charles Bukowski and future U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins. The poem will appear in the upcoming Silver Birch Press release Charles Bukowski Epic Glottis: His Art, His Women (&me) by Joan Jobe Smith.
Silver Birch Press 