In this late summer of my life,
I am drawn back to other summers
......one summer a child in pony tail and pedal pushers,
eyes full of dreams,
biking through the countryside,
(meadowlarks calling from the pasture;
scent of snapdragon and sweet pea,
lilac and japonica in
my grandmother's garden)
......one summer a teen full of romantic wonderings,
(back then, it was always summer)
Connie Francis and I singing Where the Boys Are
the record player spinning dream on dream
(scent of peony and apple blossom
will forever take me back,
lake-scent and whisperings
engraved on my heart)
.......the years I was a young mom,
sharing with my children
the joys of summer at the lake
(ripples lapping the shore,
ice cream cones and weeping willow,
long hot lazy afternoons
I somehow thought
would never end).....
My first summer in Tofino....
liberation! (the call of the waves,
the song of the sea,
the joy of being where
I was meant to be).
On this July morning,
remembering
all the summers of my life,
I can hear the seabird's cry
(that set me on my pilgrim's path
those many years ago),
so grateful it has brought me here
again beside the shore
(another summer in Tofino -
I could not ask for more.)
Sharing this with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United on Sunday morning. Hope you join us!
Ah, Sherry - I often count my life in summers as well. So many pleasant memories take place in summer when one can more easily do things outside in nature. We never realized, did we, how quickly those summers would pass into memories! Ah yes - the record player - that has passed into memory with all of those wonderfully romantic summer songs that were played on it!
ReplyDeleteAh we are truly blessed to be able to look back with gratitude in our hearts. xox
ReplyDeleteNot only is Tofino clearly a beautiful, magical place – the name is so musical that it is one to conjure with and surely belongs in poetry! The earlier summers, too, sound idyllic. You remind me of summer memories of my own at such ages.
ReplyDeleteThis is incredibly gorgeous, Sherry!💖 The nostalgia in this poem is palpable and allows the reader to visualize the scene.. especially love; "scent of peony and apple blossom will forever take me back, lake-scent and whisperings engraved on my heart."😊
ReplyDeleteI've so enjoyed the pictures you've word-painted, the tour into your life, the gift of seeing you growing and loving what the Universe offers... I can smell the flowers, hear the birds, tastes the ice cream, see you... Wild Woman.
ReplyDeleteThanks, kids. One does a lot of remembering at my time of life. I have had many blessings.
ReplyDeleteYou have calmed me, Sherry, after reading about that awful man in Mary’s poem. I l relate to all of your poem but particularly to the opening stanza, looking back at childhood in my grandmother’s garden. You’ve included all the flowers I love – and more – as well as waves and seabirds in the later stanzas – I came to the sea later in life, when I first moved to Norfolk.
ReplyDeleteI love the optimism of the parting words and the sweet rememberings
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to find that safe haven that you had perhaps been searching for for years. Let's hope the sea levels don't rise too much both where you are and where I am too!
ReplyDeleteYou took me through my own summers and had me looking up Tofina. Sweet life so often accented by the sights and scents of nature.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your summer it truly is a beautiful season. You have had a wonderful journey and it will continue.
ReplyDeleteI love how this feels like we're flipping through a well loved photo album. All the feelings of growing, changing, and finding that of of true beauty and wonder that stayed despite the changes.
ReplyDelete"the record player spinning dream on dream", this is how far most of us have come.
ReplyDeleteyour poem brings me back to my earlier years. :)
What a beautiful biography of your summers. So nice that you are so grateful and I am so glad you're there this summer.
ReplyDeleteHow utterly magical: to be set on a pilgrim's path by the cry of a seabird! May your continuing journey be filled with enough love and laughter to mitigate any heartache.
ReplyDeleteThis is so lovely and beautiful Sherry. It is obvious you are so content and at peace.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed this, like you were reaching into a box and pulking out favorite pics to show me. Such a wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteYou invoke summer so thoroughly in this, the sound of water and the heat-scent overlaid with flowers...beautiful! :)
ReplyDeleteAh your summer blessings counted. A marvelous read Sherry. Thank you for dropping by my sumie Sunday today
ReplyDeleteMuch❤🕊❤love
Beautiful! Happy to revisit this poem!
ReplyDeleteso grateful it has brought me here
ReplyDeleteagain beside the shore
It certainly is a thrill and a fulfillment to be where one so desires. Many are not able to for reasons of their own. You are blessed Sherry!
Hank
This truly spoke to me Sherry … so like the many reflections I have - casting back - 'in this late summer of my life'.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that it has come to pass that you may pin your contemplations and reminiscences against the Tofino ocean. What a lovely way to come to the approach of 'full circle' JOYOUSLY.
Beautiful writing!
Yes, i am a lucky girl and am smart enough to be very grateful. Thank you, friends, for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteOh summer is so wonderful by the sea.How lucky we are to love where we live.For me it was surfer girl and the Beach Boys.Love your nasturtiums pic...
ReplyDelete