Poems for the End of Summer

Hi there,

Happy Monday and Happy New Moon!

Well, Covid finally caught up to me. To make the best of my quarantine and try not to feel too much FOMO for the gorgeous sunny days we’ve been having, I’ve been doing a lot of pleasure reading and doing it outside. I thought I’d share a few of my favorite poems that evoke this particular time of year, in its leisurely pace and vibrant spirit. Good things to point the mind toward during a recovery of any kind. Enjoy!

1. Every time I see a field of these flowers, of think of Mary Oliver’s luminous words:

they bend as though it was natural and godly to bend,
they rise in a stiff sweetness,
in the pure peace of giving
one’s gold away.

Goldenrod by Mary Oliver

2. This sweet poem for kids of all ages:

Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson

3. As a defender of an overgrown garden and the songbirds and pollinators that call it home - this one made me smile:

In Defense of Our Overgrown Garden by Matthea Harvey

4. The authority of crows, cicada chorus, and other precise snapshots of these last, triumphant days:

Three Songs at the End of Summer by Jane Kenyon

5. This reminder. We are never alone:

Summer Night by Joy Harjo

Have a beautiful week! I hope you get to soak up your own scenes of late summer calm.

With love & breath,

Lydia