i am in love with how "summer, mid-afternoon" rolls off my tongue!

,

sounds of summer
sweep hot dust,
heaving thick sky particles

ladies in bonnets wave on the shoreline
bedecked in full length casual gowns
in shades of pale sage and lavender

they know they are just an apparition
of my trance like state--lounging
too long in the dizzying sun

i hold council with these ladies
in the shade of the nearest poplar
they share some homemade secrets

recipes, and how
my nana is blooming
like a moon flower in a heavenly realm

the altitude is good
for her tendency
to get dizzy at the sound of waterfalls

they share how they keep their cool
in temperate climates--one said,
"well, we're only visiting"

--we sip on fresh mint hisbiscus punch
poured out of a coconut ladle
into deep conch shells....
relax on flat rocks, beneath
the ever-spreading cypress trees

and soon the mimosas will be
exuding their tinkerbell scents
while we create flower chains
to wear with our casual gowns

as our men return from freedom fields
the place where cards are shuffled
and their dreams are either
celebrated or squashed- we celebrate
their home coming- in spades

zuchinni bread and borsht
with a dollop of sour cream
to feel a little richer
than we are

~kate lamberg
(c) '14