FREE VERSE FRIDAY #6 JUNE SOLSTICE

I've decided to join Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

This month it felt like Spring was writing her story through me in this poem. I wonder what Summer will have to say?

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We have continued this process. Both have remarked that this poem is dark and that finding images was challenging. In case you are interested, both these photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information. 

Moses by Ron Peace

Solstice

early on 

i two stepped 

lightly across the land 

now my feet, 

heavy,

drag across it

the season has been hard

harder than usual

Winter ignored the equinox,

threw white flurried tantrums well into April

now Summer,

always impatient,

blasts heat

well before her time

i’ve heard rumours 

those two are getting weird messages from the sun

a story about atmospheric interference 

too much carbon or something 

frankly, i’m too tired to care

i just want it to stop 

under these conditions 

it’s exhausting, 

almost impossible

to keep

my delicate charges alive,

never mind thrive

thankfully, 

my shift 

is almost over

soon i get to let go

soon

just as soon 

as the solstice arrives

it will be

someone else’s

turn to 

worry 

about 

the world

Descent by Randy Rotheisler