Jun 26, 2022Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Carmen Radley
Some things on a summer‘s day,
Lazy days, Books, Music, things to feed the soul
Out of the house before the sun gets too high and hot, walk to the harbor, up to Fort Sewell where the view is simply exquisite, boats bobbing in the water that shimmers, so much to see, so much to think about…
Jun 26, 2022Liked by Suleika Jaouad, Carmen Radley
So enjoyed listening to the reading. My heart has been bruised since I heard the news of the overturning of Roe V. Wade; it has felt violating, a negation of gender, more than it is. A stripping of voice. Somehow Dickinson, silenced during her lifetime and eternal now, was a sweet reminder of summer justice.
Sulieka, your post brought me to tears. It was the part describing how you carried your rug the long half mile home. Your strength and determination inspire me to carry on, to bask in life's beauty, own its gifts, my gifts. Thank you and be well sweet woman ❤️🙏
Jun 26, 2022·edited Jun 26, 2022Liked by Carmen Radley
Dearest Suleika! I read your gorgeous post this morning from the cherished home in Davis Park, Fire Island which my husband and I are subletting this summer! (My husband and i had met at Davis Park , Fire Island in the early 80's, and Fire Island has become such a sacred getaway for us!!! The name of the house we had rented at the time my husband and I had met was called Casablanca!) Suleika, I so very much love how you share parts of your beautiful family with our community...and today, it's your magnificent Father. In celebration of your Father, and with gratitude for his helping to bring you into our world! and how i so love how your Magnificent Father lets shine your Ancestral Soul!
And to Dearest Carmen: thank you for your stunning voice!
With much love and respect for you and your Family
67 years ago, I was born in the vicinity of where you apparently live because I remember being pushed in my stroller to Prospect Park on the regular (and spending time at their Zoo as an older child) and I also spent a lot of time in my childhood at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (so gorgeous). Thanks for those beautiful memories brought to life!
That brought me so much joy to know that you enjoyed time with your Dad in the park playing badminton. I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying life Suleika. Yes!!! Sometimes we just have to force ourselves and do it to the best of our ability. I struggle with my knees and my legs. It’s hard to get out by myself without assistance. Even if it’s getting out, buying an ice cream cone and watching passerbys it’s good to just live. I loved reading that you went by yourself to Target and hauled a rug. Wow! You are gaining your strength back. I love it!!! May you continue to get better and stronger with each day. Much love to you Suleika ❤️ One of these days I will catch you on the Hatch.
Some things in a Summer’s day…
Waking up to the mornings dawn catching pink, purple and orange hues 🌅 before the Suns burst.
The brightly lit sky with the Texas Sun ☀️ in full splendor is casting its light on the green pasture. 🌾
The cattle 🐂 are looking for shade from that bright and beautiful Sun. It’s sweltering heat is overwhelming!
Some fresh iced green tea with a sprig of mint comes to mind. It definitely takes my thirst away.
The plums on the tree have ripened. With a Summer hat 👒 and gloves 🧤 I pick plums off the tree. It’s time to make some fresh plum jam. The figs are still too small to eat…maybe in July.
The Sun battles with the Moon for its time of glory. It’s almost 8pm but the Sun tells the Moon, 🌚 🌝 “Not yet!”
As the Moon 🌚 finally breaks through the Summer night sky it sends its warm breezes and reminds us…
What a perfect birthday for your father - I'm glad you were strong enough to venture out to Prospect Park, and, I'm so glad you have the joy of a patio with some plants :)
This was a terrific and tricky prompt - I needed this to focus as I'm struggling to transition from a very complex several months with health, family and work, to a focused and healthier period (I hope!). Here's a little something from the remaining poetry muscle!
Jun 26, 2022·edited Jun 26, 2022Liked by Carmen Radley
For patios, see YouTube, "Pebble Mosaic Artist Jeffrey Bale," OPB 9-18-19. He gives detailed instructions at his Jeffrey Gardens Blogspot. His Facebook page is Gardens by Jeffrey Bale.
Ah, only the richness and heat of summer speaks to me, it's fleeting nature is like the rest of my days and seasons, a beautiful blur. I used to live for summer in my years in northern New York, the promise of spring made me want to skip work and drink champagne by the lake- which I was sometimes able to do...I was overcome by spring fever and the feeling of freedom from the constraints of cold and dressing for the elements. Now, that I have lived in the land of endless summer for 27 years; unlike many people, including my husband; I am not oppressed by the heat and humidity of summer in Florida. I'm one of those people who thrives on heat, and is willing to adapt to cooler weather and enjoy it when I'm traveling or spending some summer and autumn months in North Carolina, but never yearn to escape it.
The years of COVID isolation reminded me every day of how lucky I am to have a beautiful, private back yard filled with many flowering plants and a vegetable garden, a haven for birds, lizards, snakes, squirrels, possums.. I can ride my bike or swim in the Gulf. The outdoors freed me from overthinking and the overwhelming fear and isolation that came with the pandemic. I am so happy to read Suleika being outside in summer and the immediate change she felt, and I hope to read more outside adventures as time passes. Thank you for your inspiration and for the beautiful poems,
How I love thee Summers Day,
songs of birds, in flight and at play
sitting in grass and itching away
soaking in sun
turning skin golden and brown
not caring if later wrinkles will form
reminding me of Grandma and her olive skin
offering me a bubble pipe and a detergent filled tin
bubbles and bubbles flow down and up
I stopped all of this for a decade or two
Now I'm back to it full force
And Summer is too.
Some things on a summer‘s day,
Lazy days, Books, Music, things to feed the soul
Out of the house before the sun gets too high and hot, walk to the harbor, up to Fort Sewell where the view is simply exquisite, boats bobbing in the water that shimmers, so much to see, so much to think about…
So enjoyed listening to the reading. My heart has been bruised since I heard the news of the overturning of Roe V. Wade; it has felt violating, a negation of gender, more than it is. A stripping of voice. Somehow Dickinson, silenced during her lifetime and eternal now, was a sweet reminder of summer justice.
Sulieka, your post brought me to tears. It was the part describing how you carried your rug the long half mile home. Your strength and determination inspire me to carry on, to bask in life's beauty, own its gifts, my gifts. Thank you and be well sweet woman ❤️🙏
Some things in a summers day,
barefoot climbing rocks
on the way to the Witch's House
Passing Snakesinville
Some things on a summers day
children playing soccer
its hot very hot Vietnam
memory
Some things on a Summers day
Pandemic, birthday
Cake on a fire hydrant
perplexed
Dearest Suleika! I read your gorgeous post this morning from the cherished home in Davis Park, Fire Island which my husband and I are subletting this summer! (My husband and i had met at Davis Park , Fire Island in the early 80's, and Fire Island has become such a sacred getaway for us!!! The name of the house we had rented at the time my husband and I had met was called Casablanca!) Suleika, I so very much love how you share parts of your beautiful family with our community...and today, it's your magnificent Father. In celebration of your Father, and with gratitude for his helping to bring you into our world! and how i so love how your Magnificent Father lets shine your Ancestral Soul!
And to Dearest Carmen: thank you for your stunning voice!
With much love and respect for you and your Family
Janet
Janet
Suleika, Thank you for sharing this prompt and all of your time and dedication to this community you have created. Here are my thoughts on summer.
Summer Lesson
How can you be lonely
when we have the frog, the fish, the turtle?
How can you be angry
when we have the phoebe, the queen snake,
the green heron?
If all life is precious
what about the dragonfly, the wasp, the beetle?
Take a vacation, a getaway from humans
you will find freedom from hate, from judgement
True Freedom
On Sunday
take communion with the frog, the fish, the turtle
Kneel at the altar of the trees
It is the true spiritual food.
On Monday take advice from the river, the pond, the lake.
Let the tad pole be your life coach.
Ann Marie Boyle
Summer we have all seen-
What draws me to you?
The summer stars gazing at the moon
How I missed the summer glow
Birds disappearing into clouds
And clouds like cotton candy
White - gold - amber
The world outside is a tangled mess
But the ocean above is as blue as the ocean below
So the summer becomes me
And I turn blue
The air is still around me
But I spot my old friend the yellow songbird
Breaking into that familiar summer tune
So the black turns blue and the blue turns yellow
It's the return of the summer glow
The summer song and summer blues
Somersaulting like falling leaves from that ancient-looking Gulmohar
The setting sun triggers the trumpets to blow at a distance
Signaling an end to an adventure
And the beginning of another
The return of summer glow gets better with days like these- that feel more than complete
-Priyanka Basumatary
67 years ago, I was born in the vicinity of where you apparently live because I remember being pushed in my stroller to Prospect Park on the regular (and spending time at their Zoo as an older child) and I also spent a lot of time in my childhood at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (so gorgeous). Thanks for those beautiful memories brought to life!
summer-we have all seen
the dread, the desire for normalcy
the break from life, a life which we wish we didn't need a break from
all consuming heat, soothed only by the pool, the ocean, the ice packs on my neck
the farm--long dead, but always summers true north--
the last gasp of strawberries
destined for pies
destined for us
That brought me so much joy to know that you enjoyed time with your Dad in the park playing badminton. I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying life Suleika. Yes!!! Sometimes we just have to force ourselves and do it to the best of our ability. I struggle with my knees and my legs. It’s hard to get out by myself without assistance. Even if it’s getting out, buying an ice cream cone and watching passerbys it’s good to just live. I loved reading that you went by yourself to Target and hauled a rug. Wow! You are gaining your strength back. I love it!!! May you continue to get better and stronger with each day. Much love to you Suleika ❤️ One of these days I will catch you on the Hatch.
Some things in a Summer’s day…
Waking up to the mornings dawn catching pink, purple and orange hues 🌅 before the Suns burst.
The brightly lit sky with the Texas Sun ☀️ in full splendor is casting its light on the green pasture. 🌾
The cattle 🐂 are looking for shade from that bright and beautiful Sun. It’s sweltering heat is overwhelming!
Some fresh iced green tea with a sprig of mint comes to mind. It definitely takes my thirst away.
The plums on the tree have ripened. With a Summer hat 👒 and gloves 🧤 I pick plums off the tree. It’s time to make some fresh plum jam. The figs are still too small to eat…maybe in July.
The Sun battles with the Moon for its time of glory. It’s almost 8pm but the Sun tells the Moon, 🌚 🌝 “Not yet!”
As the Moon 🌚 finally breaks through the Summer night sky it sends its warm breezes and reminds us…
some things are WONDERFUL in a Summer’s day. 😊
What a perfect birthday for your father - I'm glad you were strong enough to venture out to Prospect Park, and, I'm so glad you have the joy of a patio with some plants :)
This was a terrific and tricky prompt - I needed this to focus as I'm struggling to transition from a very complex several months with health, family and work, to a focused and healthier period (I hope!). Here's a little something from the remaining poetry muscle!
Someone has pulled the switch
On summer.
No dimmer
To gracefully lead us into the heat.
Everyone has erased
Or filled
Calendars -
Depart, or, Distract
To survive Summer.
I love that picture of Emily Dickenson! Thanks for posting
Beautiful words, Suleika -- as always -- especially "portal of possibility." Picnic. All of it.
For patios, see YouTube, "Pebble Mosaic Artist Jeffrey Bale," OPB 9-18-19. He gives detailed instructions at his Jeffrey Gardens Blogspot. His Facebook page is Gardens by Jeffrey Bale.
Ah, only the richness and heat of summer speaks to me, it's fleeting nature is like the rest of my days and seasons, a beautiful blur. I used to live for summer in my years in northern New York, the promise of spring made me want to skip work and drink champagne by the lake- which I was sometimes able to do...I was overcome by spring fever and the feeling of freedom from the constraints of cold and dressing for the elements. Now, that I have lived in the land of endless summer for 27 years; unlike many people, including my husband; I am not oppressed by the heat and humidity of summer in Florida. I'm one of those people who thrives on heat, and is willing to adapt to cooler weather and enjoy it when I'm traveling or spending some summer and autumn months in North Carolina, but never yearn to escape it.
The years of COVID isolation reminded me every day of how lucky I am to have a beautiful, private back yard filled with many flowering plants and a vegetable garden, a haven for birds, lizards, snakes, squirrels, possums.. I can ride my bike or swim in the Gulf. The outdoors freed me from overthinking and the overwhelming fear and isolation that came with the pandemic. I am so happy to read Suleika being outside in summer and the immediate change she felt, and I hope to read more outside adventures as time passes. Thank you for your inspiration and for the beautiful poems,