The leaves seem to be smirking
Gently giggling in the dropping dew
Egging on the sting of a rising sun
Sheltering the empty bird feeder
Sad roses weep dewdrop tears
Summer’s shadows hints of fall
Garden sprinklers defy the water ban
Hawk’s struggle in the silent air
August will challenge the ripening fruit
She will throw down the gauntlet
Challenge the pumpkins of October
As lovers stroll along the beach
The moon will offer a subtle kindness
The soothing cool of the sun’s goodnight
Dear Summer,
I remember when you felt like forever
When the days stretched so wide
They could hold every dream I hadn’t grown into yet
You were the ticking of sprinklers at dusk
The chalk dust kingdoms on cracked sidewalks
The way fireflies stitched tiny lanterns
Into the hems of our nights
I remember the warmth that clung to my skin
Long after sunset…
As if you were reluctant to let me go
I remember how we believed
Nothing truly ended
The bike rides and laughter
The barefoot sprints across the lawn
Would loop back again next year
Exactly as we left them
But you changed and so did I
Now your return feels like an old photograph
I keep trying to step into
Familiar and golden
Never quite the same shape
Still I greet you each time
Hoping you’ll bring back
One more echo of who I was
When your light first found me
Truly Yours,
The kid who never stopped believing you’d return
Eyes open, arms stretch
Take a deep breath
Knees bend, back straightens
Feet bear the weight, back’s not achin’
Elbows, shoulders all work great
Brain directs the body’s fate…
The world’s alive with me, at my door
Bird’s chirping, cat’s purring on the floor
My window opens to fragrance of lilacs, roses
Sprinklers’ water-jets emitting rainbows
Outside a fawn comes running my way
Squirrels frolic to start the day
Taught not to believe in miracles
I marvel ~ teaching’s all for naught
I live in an oasis
One formed by the power of electricity
To pump day and night
From The River.
Day and night everyone along its shores
Waters their crops and yards, gardens and fields.
In the few years I’ve lived here
I’ve planted almost 500 trees and shrubs
To transform an old alfalfa field
Into a thicket of greens
Haven for mice and snakes, birds and bees.
Every day I faithfully reroute the irrigation
So that in a week it all gets watered.
If I don’t within just a few weeks
Everything would stop growing
And within just a few months
Everything would be dead.
It’s sobering to realize how tenuous our hold
On a place is.
Without electricity this whole farming valley
Would dry up and wither away.
With electricity, coming in fact from the water itself,
It is an oasis of life, calm and green
Filled with the joy of birds and bees
Humans and their trees.
My own place in it is temporary of course
But someone will come after
To keep the pumps going
Keep the sprinklers flowing
Until they don’t
And this moment in time is forgotten
As all things must be.
(5/5/26)
The Grass
HER. I almost forgot. The lawn looked dry.
HIM. What lawn?
HER. Ours. I noticed while I was waiting for you tonight...in the car.
HIM.I wish you wouldn't do that. Baumgartner is always ribbing me about it.
HER. Wish I wouldn’t do what?
HIM. Wait in the car until we leave.
HER. Joey Baumgartner should mind his business.
HIM. The sprinklers have a schedule. You have to admit it's a little nutty.
HER. Sitting in my own car, in my own driveway, in front of my own house. I wouldn’t need to if you were on time.
HIM. I’m not that late.
HER. You're always late. You should water the grass when we get home.
HIM. It'll be close to ten when we get home. Besides it's not good for it.
HER. What? It's grass.
HIM. It gets mold if you water at night.
HER. So? It's grass.
HIM. All the experts say it's bad for the grass.
HER. Well, my experts say it's good for the water bill.
HIM. Fine. I'll water the grass.
It smells like sprinklers
hot pavement
And dirt
the sky is six different colors
And the cicadas sing at six different octaves
my face is red
Hair wet with sweat
From chasing the cat
Around the yard
Barefoot in the grass
That morning momma had made chocolate chip pancakes
With butter and honey
She braided my sisters hair while I sang “blank space”
By taylor swift
Screaming over the speaker which played wide and loud
And the squirrel stole the seeds from the birdfeeder
And the night before
Daddy read us one bedtime story
Even thought my sister had begged for two
We sat sulking in our princess dresses
That smelled like old toys
And home
Daddy closed the book
And turned on the galaxy light as he walked out
Made sure the door was ajar
To let the light in
And let the cat in
And four years before that I was new
And red
And I smelled like baby powder
Hospitals
Blood
And
Life
My skin was soft
and i screamed
Momma didn’t wear makeup
or cry quite as much
My sister just learned to walk
and she held me with shaking hands
And just then
Everything sounded like music
and summer never ended
Written: May 03, 2025, for contest by Brian Strand
Olena Babak's artwork Spring's Easel Explodes Painting Shades
( It is more convenient to read the poem while looking at the artwork.)
*******************
the light shines in the eye of the whirlwind
whipping vanilla meringue through the clouds
swinging, the swamp lawn shoots over the shore
casting an apricot glow from the shrouds
butterscotch hues lace the periwinkle sky
peach, tangerine, and lavender stripes, too
caramel waves ripple across the lakebed
illuminating the lemon in the zircon view
In lush glades on a cypress-lined isle
pink flamingos find shelter by the trees
blue herons weave twig nests in the boughs
swaying in the warm, tropical-scented breeze
as dusk draws the brightness down to the horizon
Mother Earth downpours on the cornflowers
nourishing buttercups, milkweed, and daisies
while people describe the sprinklers as April showers
It’s another year
And with spring
The automatic sprinklers
Once again run like clockwork
Mesmerizing in the morning
Making me feel like an inmate
In an insane asylum
Or old folks home
Bound to view the world
Through the screen
Of a window or TV
Bound within while
Merging without a world
Of vibrant greens
The hypnotic pulse
Of watered lawns
A metronome
To ground my mind
Within the illusion
Of time
(4/30/25)
In Summer
In summer, Jerry cans yearn to
host toffee apple parties, man holes
trick lost drivers, urine people
wear funny hats
about, pine cones get spat on by
urchins, flags go into a
trance, steam shapes learn to
wink, hiking trails get
rude, sprinklers thirst
making meat pies, scavengers deliver
pamphlets, stars get
drunk, swimming pools scold
strawberry patches for
being forgetful, fire pits ride
bikes, kayakes roll down
hills,bsandpits debate
sandwiches, debate their quality of
health.
Sprinklers
There should be many studies on
front lawn sprinklers. They can
make themselves look
younger.
(Lada and Pema, 2023)
Dog Heaven
It’s a mid August morning
The time of summer
It all starts to wind down
With the dog days finally behind us.
I sit on the couch
To simply stare out the window
At sprinklers doing their thing
Amid layers and layers of soothing green.
And immediately two of my four dogs join me
The biggest and smallest pushing in
As close as they can to give and get
In equal measure what is best called love.
And while I look outward
Into the yard for solace
I see that they are content within
Secure in a peace that only a dog can know.
(8/13/24)
Springtime, you always arrive so gently,
as high school proms bring tears of friends
who know they must soon part.
I will try not to weep of fifty-six years ago,
as I see the vision of my siblings,
and I leap through sprinklers bright
with rainbows,
I promise, Spring,
I won't cry.
Spring sonata of the bird's songs,
as I recall the natural wall of hydrangea
blossoms of mint and powder blue in
our backyard.
Royal young roses so blushed on
the white trellis.
The Good Humor truck jingled down
the street.
Neighbor's children waved large wands
with giant iridescent bubbles floating
aloft to the envy of the cumulus clouds.
Oh, springtide, you're our lively maiden
with a honeysuckle crown.
The presence of your rising moon monarch
in the eve casting her silver cherish on
weeping willows.
You sail through the ages,
but remain a debutante emerging from
the gray of winter's waning.
I promised springtime, I wouldn't cry,
but my tears are healing.
I dreamily walk by the modest little
home on the sidewalk,
the beloved place,
the streets of my youth,
spring sonata of my heart's song.
I'm in no need of my walker-
as I'm a child again. ~
It's a hot one today.
The sky is crystal blue.
The birds take shelter from the heat.
Sun lovers today are few.
Ol' Sol beats down to see how fast,
We'll make for the nearest shade,
To sit and dream and fan ourselves,
With a pitcher of lemonade.
Bees are buzzing in the yard,
Butterflies flit about,
Children chase through sprinklers,
As they run and squeal and shout.
We dreamed of this all winter long.
We longed for days of clover.
At last the sun beams down on us.
The Winter days are over.
The summer sun scorches flower and grass,
dust has filled up every cranny and crack.
The humidity has climbed near the top,
it’s hotter’n two cats in a gunny sack.
The dog’s under the porch with tongue hanging,
ain’t rained in I don’t know how many days.
Sprinklers are spraying but to no avail,
I’m afraid the lawn has faded away.
But here in the shade of this old maple,
this ragged hammock fits my butt just fine.
Though there’s a thousand chores need to be done,
I think they'll wait for a much cooler time.
Miss the quiet so go to the porch
Drawn into its pleasure.
Awesome way to start a day.
Viewing nature's measure
Water sprinklers imitate rain.
Man's poor substitute
Across the way God's gift breath takes
Fulfills not dilutes.
The ambiance surrounds all plants.
And the poet out on the porch'
A relaxation covers all.
Hold high nature's torch!
Sometimes nature does go astray.
From God's divine plan
Mankind has interrupted it.
Now the world needs giant fan.
The sun is now higher in the sky.
Soon it 'twill be too hot.
Inside in the AC is the only spot.
Napping on a cot.
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