Standing outside watering a thirsty garden
watching prisms arc through the spray
under a late afternoon sun
I am reduced to a child
reliving the joy
of running under the rainbow
in the sprinkler
on a hot summer day

Sweet scent of mown grass
wild roses on the breeze
hum of bees
and butterflies alight
in my mother’s garden
brown rabbit

Of the mystery in finding a palette of color
round rainbows in the road after a rain
superimposed on black pavement
like magic
before you understood
it was just a spot of oil

Of leaves turning over to show their palms
foretelling a summer storm
darkening skies
blue white zigzags of light
we count
until we hear the rumble of angels roller-skating
across the sky
to guess how close the storm is

Hard warm rain
electric scent in flaring nostrils
steam rises from the earth
slanted sunlight
a double rainbow!
fading fast before I can find you
to show you
now a hazy pink cloud
like a dream
then gone

Last night I stood outside and watched
fireflies
dancing in the front yard
the magic of their phosphorescent lamps
winking and beckoning back
to warm summer evenings
scooping lightening bugs into jars
discovering in daylight a surprise
they have transformed!
into little brown bugs
no longer dancing faeries
carrying little green lanterns

Tiny red efts on the forest floor
their dewy skin glowing
enchanting
frogs with bubble throats
and big eyes
to catch and let go

The electric hum of whining cicadas
drone through the hot afternoon nap
voices of crickets a discordant harmony
float in on open window wind
lulling to sleep

Marking the weeks by the different flowers
as each blossoms
then fades
that much closer to the end

Of summer

~*~