Waterside Road, Late August
This blue skied evening
Curly dock stands roadside
well burnished by summer’s heat
a deep brown broomstick ready for a winter kitchen
I want to pick bouquets of it for my piano
to sweep away my sadness at summer's passing
so too with
Queen Anne’s Lace
nestled in upon herself
Perfectly drawn by time’s drawstrings until the last floret has gracefully bowed
And still I know it will wreath these ditches until it falls under winter’s icy grip
But now
we stand in awe of
The water’s rippled reflection
of the luminous cloud rimmed sky at sunset
shimmering iridescently
Its radiance only made more lovely by the cool knowing the air holds
Whispering of autumn’s coming
as another summer night falls
Crickets click
A lone cow lows
The red clay road
Leads to the same wonderful nowhere as it always does
And yet
Last eve by happenstance we caught a moment out of time
A vehicle pulled up and a pre-teen boy hopped out
Took off his shoes and socks
Threw them back in the open door
And next his sweater
Then shirt
Emptied pockets of his shorts
Beat his chest
and ran down to the water’s edge where
In he went
Then ducked and back out running
17 degrees, wind from the north, and the sun was going down fast
A biting cool after all the extreme heat
and
We stood shivering
in our sweaters and long pants
Watching as
He ran back to his family’s rig
But they
were driving away
A sister laughing out the window
while he ran like twelve year olds run
Lightning speed and desperate both
Bare foot, clay lifting, water dripping from his lean frame
Triumphant and mad as only you can be those last blazing evenings
before school begins again
And you are young and free still
If we didn’t look back for those few moments
The only thing we might have noted otherwise
The Jewelweed still glowing orange, Joe-pye Weed, fuschia
And tangles of Vetch still purple here, still there.
Be well,
Thanks for reading!
Jill MacCormack
loveitloveitloveit! ma