july – etikser

comfort

June 17, 2023 etikser

I remember that spell when I listened to John Lennon interviews every night. It was a good spell, and it was a comfort to me. I remember when I used to walk in the evenings, and the last sun of the summer day made its way around me, through the season’s branches and leaves. It was a comfort to me. Winter nights and tall branches standing strong in the cold wind and the night sky, those were a comfort to me. Sitting outside, come July. Sitting outside late at night, the stars, and fireflies, and crickets, and me, and they’ll be a comfort. I trust it’ll all be a comfort, it’ll be a comfort to me.

2022, summer

confluence

July 24, 2022July 30, 2023 etikser

There should be a checklist. Fireflies. Fireworks. A spectacular storm that doesn’t bring down any trees. Coffee on a fresh morning after it’s rained. A walk on the beach. A walk in the woods. Staking tomatoes. Watering plants. Treading water and lazy laughs with friends. Snapdragons. Dragonflies. Bugs and muggy nights.

The confluence? July 23rd. An evening outside when there’s still more than a few fireflies, and already, crickets chirp, as if to announce a movement towards August. Surrounded by a blend of scents from the plants I love. It’s happened before, evenings like this, and I ponder which plants disperse that heavenly fragrance.

Inside, pink coneflower cuttings drop pollen on the countertop. As my cloth wipes away the yellow powder, I detect a floral scent. Not an overdone designer aroma. But the real-deal pollen floral scent.

Some golden bits of summer to store up, as if I’m capable, and hold for some lifeless November afternoon.