“Summertime and the living is easy.”
George Gershwin
“We might think we are nurturing our gardens, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.”
Jenny Uglow
Summer in Maine is a gift, and I enjoy every moment of it. Back when I signed up to host, July seemed like a far away dream. Now spring blossoms are memories, the month is half over, and the specter of August hovers on the horizon. As much as a big part of me misses being at school with kids and colleagues, another part of me cringes at the thought of the start of the school year and the end of summer. There’s much I love about teaching, but the relentless pace of the days is NOT one of those things. “Autumn days and the living is easy,” sang NO teacher ever!
This week I decided to revisit an earlier prompt from Linda Mitchell and use Pat Schneider’s The Moon, Ten Times as a mentor poem again. I thought I’d put on my half-full glasses (half of July remains!) and focus on what I love about summer. It was tough to limit myself to ten things, and I omitted many much-beloved aspects of summer (fireflies, beach walks, birds, dragonflies, frogs, etc.). I’m also uncertain about the order–it’s rather haphazard, but perhaps that mimics the luxury of disorganized summer days, right? Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Summer, Ten Times
- Morning transformation
bird song displaces
the radio alarm - Time warp
hands rummage in rich earth
hours vanish - Baby Boom
each day a new arrival
in the garden - Eau de Summer
plush floral tones, fresh-mown lawns
the scent of sun-dried sheets - Verdant woods
air shifts and pulses
in sun-shafted spectrums of green - The sweet tyranny
of ripe berries - Sparkles of laughter
arc as high
as the sprinkler’s spray - Surprise!
Dance parties
in the center of the zinnias! - Sun-lit windowsills
dotted with geraniums
and the occasional sleeping cat - An ending and beginning:
Spring’s coda
Fall’s prelude
©Molly Hogan
So, what would be on your summer time list? I’d love to know! If you want to share, add your thoughts in the comments. In the meantime, thanks so much for stopping by the Roundup today. You can add your link here to participate:
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter
I’m posting this early as I am out of town until Friday evening. I may be able to read and comment here and there before then, but mostly I’ll be reading and commenting over the weekend.
Nix the comfort zone 
oooooh! The sweet tyranny of those berries! Yum!
What a fun and surprising poem to find here today. I love teaching too…but that feeling of starting from ground zero in August … having an inkling of how high a climb it is to June is not for the faint of heart. I’m so curious to see if the kids are the same or more challenging? I’m curious to see how many colleagues are “ready for the races” too.
I read your slice from Tuesday and it made me smile. The real Molly IS enjoying summer. What a gift June and July really are. Thank you for the basket of goodies above. I don’t mind if I take another–that laughter lifting as high as the sprinkler looks particularly sweet. xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was fun, and helpful, to focus on the joys of summer, rather than on its fleeting nature.
LikeLike
I like this poem so much! I wish I could cap summer in a bottle and save it; the first lines of your stanzas sound like great names for summer perfumes. Thank you for rounding up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve often longed to capture the scent of my summer garden in a bottle. I love your thought about using the first lines of each stanza as perfume names. “Verdant woods” and “sparkles of laughter” are especially appealing to me. Thanks for that perspective! (I do wonder though what “sweet tyranny” would smell like! lol)
LikeLike
Molly, thank you for sharing a summer treat from Maine. I love your Summer Ten Times poem and hope to come up with something special from my new locale. There is much to love about summer: the slow- down pace is a big one as our the frogs croaking in the pond down the street. There is a serenade every night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Frog serenades are a big favorite of mine. My dad lives on a pond in Ohio and I love falling asleep and waking up to amphibian croaks and twangs!
LikeLike
Thanks so much for hosting, Molly – especially while juggling being out of town! Every stanza of your poem made me smile… thanks for capturing summer magic with so many sensory delights. This summer, I particularly enjoyed seeing a woodsy yard full of fireflies (lightning bugs here, but that’s not as poetic!) at a family gathering place we just bought up near the mountains. So many blessings.
Extra hugs to you and EVERY teacher this year….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fireflies never lose their magic do they? Enjoy your summer blessings!
LikeLike
Molly, thank you for sharing. I love your use of senses in your Summer Ten Times poem. Rich images and fun! It’s hard to pick a favorite. I especially love “Morning transformation bird song displaces the radio alarm” and “Surprise! Dance parties in the center of the zinnias!” Yesterday, a monarch, a great fritillary, a white cabbage butterfly, and bumblebees were dancing in my garden! Today, I took a shower with my hose after killing gypsy moths and their egg sacks, gross & yuck, which reminded of running under the hose when I was a kid. Now that would be a GROSS poem! I hope your father is improving; I will send prayers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve always been enchanted by the name “great fritillary” and your garden scene is delightful! I’m hoping to spend some spectator time in my garden soon, now that I’m back home. PS–I was in VT where the gypsy moths are EVERYWHERE! I’ve never seen anything like it–EW!
LikeLike
What a lovely poetry prompt. You’ve got my mind whirling with possibilities, now. Thank-you. And for hosting us, too. I love you kaleidoscope poem, and I like that the ‘disorganised order’ is a summer romp. I think I especially enjoyed your sweet tyranny of ripe berries. And the unexpectedness of two lines really highlights this one. (The third line is a mouthful of berries.😹) And I adore your dance parties in the zinnias!! For sure, I can relate to that yearning to hold onto every moment of summer holidays. Don’t even LOOK to the future. Blot that date out on your calendar.🙈
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pat Schneider’s poem is such a great mentor! I have fun with it every time I visit it. I’m working hard to stay in each summer day and appreciate all the wonders!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for hosting. I love that Schneider poem and your number 7.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jone! I remember those long ago sprinkler and slip-and-slide days with great fondness. Not much is better than the sound of kids’ laughter floating on the summer air.
LikeLike
#2! #6!! #8!!! Way to catch the mindful moments, Molly. Thanks for hosting and giving us a glimpse of a Maine summer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope you’re enjoying plenty of your own mindful moments, Heidi! I can’t wait to hear more about your bike ride!
LikeLike
I especially like #7. My favorite things about summer would have to include the fruit and the lazy schedule. Thanks for hosting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree–the lazy schedule is indeed one of the best things about summer. I start to feel frazzled when my calendar begins to fill, even if it’s with fun things. I enjoy the luxury of unplanned days!
LikeLike
This poem just made me breathe more deeply…thank you for such a celebration of summer and a lovely, inspiring writing prompt. My summer joys this week include so many raspberries (laughing at “tyrrany,” but YES)…and the fireflies and sunflowers and sun tea. Thank you for hosting, and enjoy every moment. There’s a lot left! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s to summer days filled with easy, deep breathing! Enjoy all your summer joys!
LikeLike
Marvelous post Molly, from images to music to your feel-good poem, I love it all!
And your,
“Sparkles of laughter
arc as high
as the sprinkler’s spray”
BTW are those pics of your garden, what an enchanting place! Thanks for sharing all and hosting the roundup.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Michelle. The pics are of my gardens–lush, wild places that they are 🙂 My house feels embraced.
LikeLike
Molly, I am happy to be back here for more Maine summer energy, after a lovely rowing adventure with you on Tuesday. There are so many summer times to love here. “Baby Boom” and “Sparkles of laughter” are my favorites this morning. I can see how you had a hard time stopping at ten. I would have to add something about the summertime fruits being ripe and the juice running down my chin and forearms. Summertime desserts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t it wonderful that there are too many wonderful summer “times” to stop at ten? Enjoy your juicy summer days!
LikeLike
A veritable cornucopia of summer delights are presented in your poem Molly, along with other summer salutes. As I am presently in winter, your words and pictures have warmed me considerably. I did enjoy the reference to the harvest rush with the line -‘The sweet tyranny of ripe berries.’ It brought to mind childhood memories of all the berries my father grew and how we were constantly needing to pick them -and sample them. Thanks for hosting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have a saying around my house: “Jam waits for no man!” The berry-picking and jam-making window is dictated, but the results are oh-so-worth-it!
LikeLike
Thank you for hosting this week. The reminder about Pat Schneider’s poetry is particularly welcome for me in a busy week, in a busy summer.
I love your poem about summer – the haphazardness is perfect – it reminds me of a summer walk, when you never know what sight or sound or smell will delight you next as you continue on your way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you liked the haphazard nature. I thought about revising, but hoped for the exact effect you described. It’s a summer luxury to be able to walk through a disorganized day.
LikeLike
[…] Molly has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Nix the Comfort Zone. […]
LikeLike
Thanks for hosting! I love all you put in (right now, basil is my tyranny–so. much. pesto.) AND all you left out. The riches of summer. I feel you on the dread of the start of school. I promise not to gloat. Too much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, pesto! Yum! And, you’re allowed to gloat–just a little! You’ve earned the right.
LikeLike
Your poem captures so many wonderful summer moments. I love #6 and #7 – the tyranny of berries and the laughter of children. And while I enjoyed reading your poem, the gift of Norah Jones singing “Summertime” filled my soul and brought warm memories. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I so enjoyed discovering Norah Jones’ version (though I felt a bit sacrilegious not sharing Ella Fitzgerald’s). I’m glad you liked it, too!
LikeLike
Dear Molly, I know what you mean about not being able to include all of summer’s wonders! So many of my poems are summer related. I particularly love your Eau de Summer. 🙂 I love not having to get any more dressed to take the dog out in early mornings or before bed. Thank you for hosting and for sharing your summer! xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
My garden has been especially scent-sational this year! From lilacs to roses to phlox, etc. I do wish I could bottle up some Eau de Summer.
LikeLike
[…] Hogan is celebrating summer while hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup at Nix the Comfort Zone – so head on over for all of today’s poetry links and […]
LikeLike
I can completely relate to these images, Molly – especially the birds and berries. Thanks for sharing, and for hosting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you also added a dose of Maine to your summer delights, Matt!
LikeLike
Thanks for hosting. I love this prompt and how it tells us who you are as you sit deeply into summer and feel the Joy of time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This poem is such a great mentor poem! The Joy of Time is a real thing and sounds like a marvelous title for a poem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for hosting! Love this summer glimpse! I had a summer in Maine many years ago and loved it! The blueberries, the lobster!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Blueberries are another summer wonder that got left off my list. My basket of summer goodness is happily overflowing 🙂
LikeLike
[…] be sure to visit my lovely and talented critique group partner, Molly Hogan, at Nix the Comfort Zone for the Poetry Friday […]
LikeLike
Molly, I love your summer list. You really enjoy nature and the outdoors, as do I! Ziinnas are a favorite! I also love the call of the loons (made it into my poem today) and the smell of cedar in the forest, as well as frogs croaking at night and the warmth of the sun on my face. I especially like your ending and how you brought some musical terms to the list. Thanks for hosting this week! ~ Carol ~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, you included some of my favorite things in your list! We could hear the loons at our old house, and I miss their call so much. The smell of cedar in the forest is another great summer joy. Here’s to soaking in every moment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] day birds” and the Assabet River rolling by. You can find Molly’s roundup on her blog, Nix the Comfort Zone. Thanks for hosting, […]
LikeLike
Love this, Molly. I’d add porch rockers, easing me into the day at dawn and out again at dusk. Thanks for hosting! P.S. My least favorite summer day? August 1st. Every day in August is a Sunday night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love imagining you rocking in and out of each day, Christie! Your final comment is oh so sadly true. I’m trying to shift that lens though!
LikeLike
[…] know more about Poetry Friday? Click this link right here. And be sure to check Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone to see this week’s round up of wonderful poetry related posts, blogs and […]
LikeLike
I love your list, especially the “Sweet tyranny of ripe berries”. I love the endless days at the beach and/or pool with my kiddos. Thanks for hosting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Time does stretch out on summer days, doesn’t it!? Enjoy!
LikeLike
[…] Don’t forget to check out this week’s roundup […]
LikeLike
Thank you for hosting us this week, Molly. Your summer poem is perfect–I especially love the ” sun-shafted spectrums of green.” My list would include time to get lost in a book, maybe on a beach, but anywhere will do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t believe I didn’t mention the luxury of time to read! Maybe I’ll have to do a Summer, Ten Times, Part 2. Happy reading!
LikeLike