August

Summer Produce Series

Welcome back to another Summer Produce Series poetry post! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read more about the series I’m cohosting with Claire here. The bug my family and I were fighting last week lingered into this week, which is why my post is late (again).

The prompt for this Friday—which also happened to be my daughter’s birthday—was mangoes or peaches, so I really wanted to incorporate one of them into a poem for her. I can’t do her justice with my words, but I sure did try!

So, without further ado…

For Catalina 

August began 
with the beginning of a life

On the second day of this hottest 
of months, when even the sun 
hides from its own heat
behind stormy clouds,
you, my radiant, brilliant, beam
decided it was your equinox

You were born 
as perennials took a break
from blooming, as those tasty 
Georgia peaches made their final debut,
and the bushes were decorated by
scattered blueberries one last time

You were born 
at the tail end of summertime,
as all that is sweet and bursting 
with life slowly, cautiously
wrapped up its season, 
as the land prepared for rest

You were born 
as the thought of autumn 
began to loom overhead 
and the rustling of future 
falling leaves rang too close
to everyone’s ears 

You were born, 
my dear, a luminescent ray, 
to take the place of impending decay. 
When you arrived, light stood still, 
and an eternal summer 
appeared 

   - r.e.g.