Thoughts From A Tennessee Cocoon

This was a poem that I wrote in a poetry class in 2008.  I minimally edited it for this blog.

This poem seems fitting as the sweltering heat of summer finally begins to settle in.  It also feels particularly poignant now that I have moved away and not only reminisce on childhood summers, but also summers in my home state of Tennessee.

Thoughts From A Tennessee Cocoon

Fireflies flitter,
electrify the night.
A cricket's melody floats
on pockets of sticky air.
Tennessee summer heat,
too stubborn to leave with the sun,
too reluctant to relent.
Even the cool bed sheets,
a cocoon too soon occupied,
now cramped with clammy air.
Still the constant zephyr,
the sweet solstice swoons,
sweeping over my face,
whispering pleasures of life,
pleasures of summer.

Before drifting asleep
on a cricket's-sung tale,
another story settles in my ear,
summoning recollection--my own
days at Cherokee Circle,
sun-bleached hair, bicycle fringe.
Exploring the mimosa,
tanned body clambering,
resting in its arms,
outstretched.  My bony fingers finding
its pods, patiently peeling husks,
bean by bean,
the entertainment of onlies.
Here awaken days of my own--
days of summer.

Now at the end,
I quietly surrender
to the comfort of my own bed,
to the call of the cicada's tune,
and the cool wind's breath
mumbling sighs of a forgotten time--
uttering murmurs of childhood,
murmurs of summer.