Month: June 2018

no. 101

june at 60.9929° n, 24.4590° e

today i had to look for my cold-weather sweater

but settled for a spring cardigan, a light leather jacket

it seems that summer has deemed this region beneath her

and, deciding to abandon us for more appropriate latitudes

has given over to the swift siberian winds blowing from the east

green things protest, even the plants on the sill

have shriveled up overnight by the open window

which only yesterday provided relief from the heavy heat

the trees are no match for the tortuous gale

they relinquish twigs reluctantly, screaming and moaning

and i must don the winter coat i had only just shed

in the shallows of a sun-warmed lake

we thought it would last, that heat that toasted our bones

that coaxed thin pearls of perspiration from our upper lips

it made us want to discard the lightest clothing

and prance around in the nude by the water’s edge

it made us human again after such a long season as

bundled-up bears, hibernating, grumbling in our somnambulist

strides from place to place, awaiting the rare golden months

when we could bask, if only for a little while

(written 4 june 2018)

mundane musing the thirty-seventh

partner-less

i am the finder of lost socks

when you live in a country this far north

hand-knit socks, lonely or in pairs

 

abandoned

 

are uncovered when the last of the snow has melted

they reappear in bushes and on roadsides

i wonder how their owners parted with them

they remind me that

winter always hides under spring

 

once, i picked up a discovered sock

(it was fashioned in my favorite colorway)

and against my better judgement

washed it and imagined turning it

into something useful, more beautiful:

 

a hobby horse

a cellphone holder

a sock monkey

 

much as winter snow

gives way to spring flowers

(written 30 april 2018)