The Gift of July

July is a steamy, fiery, orange month when the element of moisture – laden air overpowers my senses. The perfume of pine needles, lilies, bee balm, milkweed, ripening berries carries a sweetness that is only brought on the wings of stifling heat…

The Gift of July

 

Thick moist heat bathes

the night in crimson,

drives bears deep

into sphagnum bogs to dream.

 

Fireflies drift through

sweet wet grass.

Hidden under leafy branches

grey tree frogs trill.

 

Blood red cardinals whistle love songs,

teach offspring to chirp

sharp staccato rounds

at the threshold of dawn…

Brilliant morning light filters

through crystals formed by dew…

 

Kingfisher’s absence

won’t be missed

by transforming toads,

but the drought may dry

the vernal pool too soon

for lungs to form.

 

The doe grazes outside my window

under a blistering noon day star.

Chomping down wild rose thorns,

red deer shreds supple grape leaves,

nips bee balm for an after dinner mint!

Gray foxes feast on treats I leave

beneath heavily perfumed pines.

Grapes, old cranberries, apples,

fat and bone marrow – perhaps

a carcass entices them in.

 

When mountains disappear under clouds of thick fog,

Our Goddess ascends, her nimbus shrouded in pearl like mist.

One night soon, she’ll sing up a blossoming Moon.

 

A wave of gratitude swells and breaks –

An emerald sea is moving through me.

Water and Air create a symphony

Breathe deep and listen –

The Soul of Nature sounds a joyous Hum.