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“Summer Was Always A Liar,” by Nils Peterson; photo by Bea Garth

By beagarth on August 9, 2017 • ( 0 )

SUMMER WAS ALWAYS A LIAR
by Nils Peterson, copyright 2017
previously published in 3 Quarks Daily (http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2017/08/sunday-poem.html#comments), and parts of it in Sandhill Review

June

At the far outpost
of the Empire of Light, the
bugle sounds retreat.

pale moon in a black sky,
intense, solitary. aloof.
moon-lovers, silver with longing,
stand hushed in the driveway
before going in

now the sun scatters the old gold
of late summer about the garden
how lovely here seems
with all its busyness and beauty,
yet, the ghost of a moon hangs
in the blue morning sky

As in an hour glass not long before
it wants turning, the grains of sand
seem to move faster, faster, so
quicken the days of August.
Summer was always a liar with
its June promises of forever.

you think back to childhood
when the days of summer seemed
endless, and time long enough

the school bell rang
and you woke with a jolt
into the mortality of arithmetic

Bio: Nils Peterson taught in the English and Humanities Departments at San Jose State University from 1963 to 1999. He has published poems in many journals, has written science fiction, as well as articles on varying subjects. A chapbook of poems entitled Here Is No Ordinary Rejoicing was published by No Deadlines Press, a collection of poems entitled The Comedy of Desire, with an introduction by Robert Bly, was published by the Blue Sofa Press and a collection of poems entitled Driving a Herd of Moose to Durango appeared in 2005. Nils was nominated for a 2005 Pushcart Prize. He is one of the founding members of Poetry Center San José, and the first Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County. For more info. click: https://nilspoet.wordpress.com

Bio: Bea Garth is an artist and poet, as well as editor of Eos: The Creative Context. She will soon be be managing the website for the Oregon Women’s Caucus for Art. Currently she is busy creating a new body of paintings and ceramic sculpture. She will be participating in Open Studios for Clark County, Washington in November, 2017. See http://bgarthart.com for more info about her art and poetry.

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