Tag: picnic

Summer 2021

~~ a seasonal quindecim

by tkbrown
Summer, in all its splendor, ushered in--
crowning the longest day just 'ere mid-year--
with promises to warm the soul within
and the body without as days grow shorter
bit by bit with warmer days yet to be.
Gardens are bursting with good food to eat
fresh--raw or cooked, flavors only set free
when plucked from the stalk in the summer heat
of early morn--cooled by lingering night.
Refreshing dips in a freshwater pool
during the heat of day are such delight
to the body, render balm to the soul.
Memories built with family and friends
o'er barbeque or picnic fare attends
to those leaving as summers fun time ends.

The longer days and shorter nights will blend
some of the best daytime activities
to be carried in thought as life doth send
loved ones to local schools or overseas,
beginning new chapters in books mostly
yet to be written as steps lead away
from home fires. Embracing new life boldly,
with surety closely akin to the sway
of limbs on a tree waving in the breeze--
ruminations of failure never piqued
by fear, remorse, or guilt provoking pleas
through rife cajoling whether squawked or shrieked.
Emboldened by new friends in new places
standing out 'midst a sea of new faces
where past life is leaving no bold traces.

Graduations, weddings and moving top
summer lists for vacation reflection.
Those completed, checked-of, doing the flip
as packing moves to a higher section
amid lives taking a new direction.
Not seeing the void in lives of others
who must now find some substitute function
to insert where newly loosened tethers
flutter freely, blown hither and thither,
refashioning purpose at each new whim--
until satisfied with some new dither
utilizing free flowing excess vim.
Activities of summer dawn an ardor
determined by planned point of departure
and designed to nurture exit fervor.

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Memorial Day 2021

~~ a holiday quindecim

by tkbrown
Memorial Day was set aside
to honor our family's dead.
Those who in uniform died
honored for the soil they tread,
given a bit more recognition
because they defended us too.
If they were fallen in combat,
talk of ways they served true
was joined and tucked in a bonnet
for remembrance again a year hence.
Others, remembered for who they were--
a good word said that did not mince
the contributions one did confer.
The family plot was decorated
with flowers, artificial and planted--
and flags for special honor granted.

Now the day is thought special
as the first summer get-away for fun.
No thought is given to things stressful,
and no history of family is spun.
Persons in our past are mostly forgotten
and no day is set aside to remember
special service or skills they were totin'.
Many get away in a fifth-wheel camper;
while others prefer to pitch a tent
and build a campfire for their supper.
Yet others prefer a more modern bent
with room to let and meals served proper.
The day is now a summer holiday
with a forward view far and away
from the memory of our yesterday.

As a kid, I remember an early rising
with a picnic to pack for the family,
visiting graveyard plots of those resting
and decorating each resting spot nicely.
The noon-time meal was specially planned
with contributions by a multitude of kin.
The spread of food was home-cooked or -canned
with favorites and new fare thrown in.
Before the meal a short service was given
to give thanks and mention those sleeping
in this beautiful spot 'specially chosen
for those awaiting Jesus' coming.
The day was complete after noontide fare
and visiting had finished with those there
for the remembrance and annual prayer.

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Photo Above: by Kacper Lawiński @pixabay.com.

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