Thursday, September 27, 2012

July Rain (Nothing Lasts Forever)


For newcomers,
the first summer spent
away from home
(warmer and colder parts
of the country or globe)
begins in grumbling:

Jackets in late June!
Three straight days of rain,
It’s July!
Where is the sun?

Some who grew up here
suffer from an annual amnesia,
every July they marvel
at the unseasonable wet.

But I remember Fourth-of July’s
spent shivering under a wool blanket
damp from drizzle,
waiting for fireworks to finish
so we could pile into a minivan,
crank the heat, and go home.

I remember red and yellow leaves
against blue skies,
swimming in late September,
crisp and tan lawns
waiting for October
to finally bring back the grey.

Summers here are often tardy
but seldom truant—though
it is September 27th,
and I’m in shorts and t-shirt:

I wonder how well I’ll remember
in a raincoat in mid-July.

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