Summer Blooms

—Poetry and Photos by Sue Daly, Sacramento, CA

COVID SUMMER

Another night of numbness
fades into a dismal dawn.

Masked ghosts walk on
burning summer sidewalks.

Lavender roses begin to wilt
in the fevered afternoon sun.

On the way to the mailbox

I watch the clouds paint the day gray,
competing with a few rays of sun.

Sidewalk roses beg for affection—
deep reds, pale pinks and peaches.

I breathe in the heady cologne.
Breaking off a hesitant pink,

I press the fleshy petals to my face—
crushed velvet explodes on my cheek.

A moment resplendent.

YOUR FATHER’S ORCHARD


The fruit trees bloomed early this season.
I drive the backroads from Fresno,
see blossoms bursting everywhere.

The fusion of flowers and fragrances
offers a feast to my senses—
lures me into the heart of the valley,
the heart of my memories.

I remember April picnics, treks through
your father’s cherry orchard,
our shy kisses and budding romance.

You were taken away in mid-blossom,
gone before your full flowering.
Now every year I drive this valley—
watch your pink and white petals
flutter away in the breeze.

wildflowers

scent of honeysuckle in the air,
tiny petals everywhere—
   and my love, you were there.

lavender lilacs pale and fair,
wildflowers adorned your hair—
     and my love, you were there.

snow piles on branches bare,
stormy skies that do not care—
and you my love, no longer there.

MONTEREY

The mist inches inland,
kisses all in its path.

We absorb it by osmosis—
the cypress trees drink it every spring.

Thirsty roots inhale the moisture—
in peril without it.

When autumn arrives the trees
creak and bend with the wind,

dormant,
       dreamless.

We’re in this together, even when apart.

Today’s LittleNip:

BEAUTY
—Sue Daly


With all the scorn and sadness,


this world’s pain and madness


comes a whisper hardly noticed—
Beauty, you’ve not left us.

_____________________

Welcome back, Sue Daly, and thanks for your “poetry in bloom”! Sue’s poems have been published in several literary journals and anthologies. Her poetry chapbook, A Voice at Last, was published by DADs Desk Publishing in 2017. Sue writes "Plug into Poetry", a monthly newsletter highlighting Sacramento poetry readings and writing groups. She also leads a Women’s Writing Group at Wellspring Women’s Center, and co-facilitates a weekly Poetry Workshop with Joyce Odam at the Ethel M. Hart Senior Center in Sacramento. Her next book, Language of the Tea Leaves (Cold River Press) will be published soon. Sue has an interest in empowering women to write their truth and share it with others. Sue was first featured in Medusa’s Kitchen in August of 2017.

_____________________

—Medusa, hoping you’ll stop and smell the roses that Sue Daly has sent us!

 —Photo by Sue Daly

 

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