“Summer Aunts”
I miss
the aunts
who gave us
summers.
Kitchen-steady,
radios tuned to
country and western.
Racing bikes.
Bactine unstinging
skinned knees.
Beaded pitchers of
cherry Cheeri-aid
in the fridge.
Tuna fish, Fritos
for lunch.
Don’t slam the
screen door!
Lazy hammock
afternoons,
Little Lulu, Scrooge McDuck,
chewing Juicyfruit
till the sugar
fades.
Carload of cousins
taxied for
back-to-school
clothes.
Crisp plaid jumpers,
grass-spread
bare feet squeezed
into new loafers.
Fresh picked corn,
hot biscuits,
fried squash,
pork and beans,
sweet tea.
Red Light Green Light
sparked by fireflies.
Called inside after
dark.
Upstairs air
lake-cooled
by an attic fan.
Sun-dried sheets.
Secrets before sleep.
Train whistle
in the distance.
Come back, aunts.
Give those still here
one more summer.
Feed our weary
souls.
We promise not
to slam the
screen door.
4 thoughts on “What I Miss This Summer”
I absolutely loved this post. Felt transported to another time. Beautiful,
Thank you for reading and dropping a comment. Yes, it was a different time. I wish I could take my ten-year-old self back to my aunts’ houses for one day . . .
What wonderful memories!
Thank you for reading and commenting. I wrote this in my head one night (when I should have been sleeping). Since then I’ve dreamed about the cousins who have gone on to the Big Family Reunion in the sky, including my only sibling, my beloved sister.