(no subject)

[apiphile]

we ate berries

oh summer sun you wake the sleeper
wedged safe beneath the black coastal rock;
you drag from the cave the slick-hide waiter
who flashes quicksilver swift across the water
the glass-clear water at bathers' ankles
you dredge up, oh summer sun,
the fires in the long dry grass
who stilled and did not stir
the whole winter past; you give them
sparks, you make the landscape
scorched charcoal stark, you make
desolation into a fine art.

oh summer sun you rouse me
from the grey to the green
from the brown trails to the golden
as the leaves spring forth to greet
the passing of the unseen;
the nape of the neck of summer
the thick-haired belly of the summer
the fitful sleep of the summer
who holds off his hand until daylight
and leaves the torrid nights for waking.

oh summer sun you send me
high-spirited, light-healed across the moor
down the cliffs to the shouting gulls
to the broken ships and steep sandbanks
to my home once more; you send me
a hundred forgotten moments
like hovering flies to taunt
with all the things my skin has seen
and remind me with too-hot kisses
what you used to mean.

oh summer sun i missed you
and will miss you again
i'll return again some older
a little greyer
still your friend.