The Pangs of Summer
An original (gasp!) poem and companion of sorts to my 'On Hope and Failing Better' post.
Today, I am taking a bit of a leap… inspired by this space, you all, and as mentioned in my last post, I feel a strange push from the universe to, as director William Friedkin put it, “fail better.”
I have never shared my poetry publicly… in fact, I have only been writing poetry in earnest for the last three months. Funny, I guess I did find hope this summer, just not in the way I had expected.
Funny, I guess I did find hope this summer, just not in the way I had expected.
But today as I was typing away on my latest draft, I realized I had another window open… a poem I wrote weeks ago and had nearly forgotten, a companion of sorts to my sincere ramblings about “missing out” on the summer. So, before I change my mind and chicken out — concerned over any potential/perceived “failure” that releasing my poem onto the internet will cause — and before this baby starts screaming “MAMA” adamantly announcing the end of her nap, here is my poem “The Pangs of Summer.”
The Pangs of Summer
August arrives with all its sticky judgement,
wet regret clings to every inch of skin, drips
down your slender spine, damp with sweaty
remorse for all the warmth your body missed,
too busy sitting under the window unit
cool air smothering your chance to be alive,
truly alive, blanketed in heat. The dream
you dreamed all winter of melted ice
cream and luscious lake water rippling toward
uneven sand beaches, the click of bicycles
spinning past at the same clip as the weeks of
June and July, which ran away from you,
yes, you chased the summer like a thief who
stole your peace, the one you promised yourself
all year, and now you’ve become greedy for
more, a cartoon cop gasping for breath,
panting, hands on knees, watching
the season disappear around the corner,
taking the sun’s spoils and leaving your
heaving stomach to grumble with want
Do you have a favorite “summer” poem? Or anything you hope to accomplish in these final days of August? I’d love to hear from you!