Dear Summer (& other poems)

by Linda Quigley

Today’s warmth
Reminds me
My fondest memories
Sand in my toes
Toes in the water
Still cold
From the long spring
Husband
Children
Friends
Over the years
A favorite time
This year
Feels so different
Hesitant to make
Plans
Even the summer itself
Feels tenuous
All the usual events
Cancelled or online
But the ocean
The bay
The inlets
Seagulls
Piping plovers
Terns
Myriad varieties of fish
The deer
The wild turkeys
Endure
Thrive
Undulating dunes
Beach plum blossoms
Roads shaded by feathery boughs
Colors absolutely vivid at 5 PM
Dear, dear summer
I want to hold you close
Like a lover
Feel your warmth
Taste your corn and tomatoes
Smell the breeze off the sea
Hear the birds in the woods
Touch the water on my skin
The towel as I lay upon it
Remembering the embraces of dear friends.

Ode to Lunch

To sit with friends
Gossip
Drink
Peruse
The menu
Question
The specials
Savor
That first bite
Catch up
On the news
Plan
The next theater outing
Admire
Each other’s jewelry
Comment
On the noisiness
Or rare quiet
The food
Prices
The waiter/waitress’s manner
Discuss
Our children
The good, the bad, the ugly
Do it again
The next day
Or the next week
With the same friend
Or a different one
Take out the charge card
Divide the bill
Curtain in a few minutes
Time to go.

Recipes

Recipes for life
The measuring spoons
Of generations
Cups that runneth over
The drizzle of love
Sparingly applied
Pinch that salt
Over wounds incurred
Unknowingly inflicted
Fodder for shrinks
Honeyed hugs
From sweethearts
Lighten the fraught feeling
Of leftover sentiments
That laden emotion
Of starchy excess
A balance
Of nutrients required
Slice, mince
Chop roughly
Crumble carefully
Saute’ lightly
Simmer over a low flame
Bake until done
Roast masterfully
Make it!
Eat it!
Live it!

Fully.