Summer of Darkness

Summertime
The season of growth
Verdant green fields
Filled with wildflowers
And lovers on adventures
Warm sunlit days
Swaying in the hammock
Lying in the sun
Sand and smiles with the
Saucy *shush* of the silver waves
Life and laughter lighting up
Little gatherings of lovers

Instead became
The season of death
Turning light to dark
Smoke blocking out
The delicious sun’s rays
Brokenness and blackness
Brought to being because of
A fiery fury fueled by
Kindling from the
Dead forests
Once filled with life and love
Poisoned by time and tempests

Yet

Despite the blackened earth
And scorched soul
The winds of summer have
Wildly blown by the wayside
The white smokes of what was
With fresh air and the
Promise of possibilities for
As autumn approaches
The seeds sown in seasons
Upon seasons past and present
Have opened
Planted in the richness that comes
From death and wildfires
Letting their little green leafs
Open optimistically
To the waiting sun
And soothing sunshowers
Heaping hope upon hope
For a happy harvest
Despite devastation

My entry into KaylaAnn’s Summer Poetry Contest. She said it would be interesting to have a darker summer theme entry and I thought, “hmmm… I might could do that!” What’s darker than the sun being blocked out by death and destruction of wildfires like those seen in the western states every year? But what is more hopeful in the end than the life that comes after?

Originally published 26 August 2018