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Summer Solstice

Living memory
merges then and now
as the same.

It was an indelible moment
that I’ve never forgotten;
a fresh, open morning
after another year
of elementary school
was finished,
on the cusp, when
summer vacation began.
As I burst from
my parent’s front door
with plans for play
the not yet humid, but
fragrant air, confronted me,
cool with tinges of warmth
(heading to hot)
scented
with June roses
trellised on the porch,
yesterday’s cut grass,
and spent peony petals,
sprinkled liberally
with chattering bird song,
slanting early shadows,
and awakening possibilities.
I felt exuberant, euphoric,
free at last to be authentic.

Today I opened our door
and the light, temperature,
sounds, smells, all sensation
and vibrant expectancy
were exactly as if
no decades
were in between–
just the longest day to fill
with the sweetest,
healthiest liberty.
I am grateful to recognize
and experience anew
my deepest, most genuine self
as essentially unchanged,
thrilled as ever
to seize the cherished privilege
of creative independence.

Polly Castor
6/20/16

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