Apparently, it seems I have written twenty-two poems in the month of August since starting my writing adventure.
These poems incorporate several themes ranging from nature in the mountains to the sea shore, seasonal change, life change, Scotland, aging, mystery and loneliness. Style also varies with earliest writings in 2005 to a more succinct style in 2016 (though readers may argue otherwise).
Many of my poems were a direct result of my mountain walks in and around Laurel Park, North Carolina but weren't necessarily about it's natural settings. The poem "Summertime," found in my second book, A Boomer Uncharted, is just such an example. Ironically, it was born of thought just steps from "the bear story" walking down the same stretch of a "long and winding road" found in my previous blog. Wow, enough of the superfluous information!
It was a typically hot, August, summer, Saturday morning in the sunny South. I was nearing the end of my usual walk as I glanced up to the wooded hill on my right. There I saw a women with meticulous care tending her potted plants hanging about the deck. While I can't exactly tell you why, the moment captured my thought and imagination. Perhaps her style of dress, maybe the curious combination of flowers, deck and mountainous setting, but clearly I was wrestling with issues of, okay I admit it... aging. The words followed me home and I pounded them out while swinging on my own mountain deck.
I do have many other stories, some quite dramatic. This is not one of them, though maybe one day they will be shared. This story does, however, illustrate how in any given moment and setting inspiration can transpire. Strangely, it is most often from the unlikely or the unexpected, a scent, a breeze, a wave upon a shore, a crackling campfire, a trampled leaf, or even a preoccupying thought like aging.
You can currently read the poem, "Summertime" on my website, or it can be purchased along with 54 other poems in my second book, available on now Amazon.
I hope you enjoy it.