Love Letter of Summer
By Cherbo Geeplay
Summer is yet to come and may
never come. She's stirring in an
August noon, sitting on the long
plateaus of these fields so far
from our grasp. The rice
fields are silent amidst
these thick woods as
the moon loans her
radiance, her silver
glow hovers over the
lagoons. Beloved, see the
treasures you left, bathed
by the monsoon rains,
whetting our appetites as
we await the rising sun.
Sullen, sad, the train was
never meant to stop here.
But the tears of the clouds,
which began yesterday in earnest,
still exalt the souls of our musing
thoughts mingled with the divine
wisdom given by the ancestors,
needing no light to welcome
the blooms that sprout on
these coveted lovely crops.
ll
O Toni, you are gone too?
For you are the Carnation
of Ohio; the love letter of
summer cuddling the rainfall.
That bright tulip we all wished
was had, capped to the longing
breasts of our jackets, the
cranberry that spread her
indigo blues thrust upon
us, swaying the nomadic
revelers drinking from
your fountain. Why abandon
your guests, you violet pedagogic
messenger? Your furnished
truths are heaped upon our
collars and shoulders now,
gliding with the wind, crossing
continents on the quick leaping
hooves to a canter, a starved
antelope in search of her groove,
looking for the green patches
which you groomed.
lll
O Toni, the faint waves
of the enduring riverbanks
are roaring, grey, to the
erudite laughs of your
volumes, the golden
sun of Africa’s savannah weeps.
The splendor of your aura is
now washed on these desolate
beaches by a massive storm
blowing over these still hills,
as we hold back the emotions
that come to us against the
the blowing winds. In her
tarnished lust for fury,
death blasting with
thunder, stealing our
sad hearts. So it is too, as
the evening swallows the
sunset, the roaming cavalier
of cold gloom razes flares of
fires, devouring the forest's
leaves pitching her dark fork
on the land once more, and
tomorrow again! Beloved,
you are the pearl of the calm
seas, the lilies of the valleys.
(February 18, 1931–August 5, 2019
Toni Morrison)
Copyright ©
Cherbo Geeplay
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