Marygold

August free verse for literally no one but me

The southern air sat wet and heavy, charged with energy that only the buzzing cicadas could limn. I was nine and headed home to my mother’s pot roast and carrots.

Rays retreated behind still-crowded branches of deep green, triggering the streetlights to watch over my Velcroed and trampoline-tired steps, slowing to extend my summer curfew as innocently as I could.

My first Lughnasadh. My first harvest of upper lip salt. Of the sight of mated dragonflies. Of the sicksweet smell of ripe grass. Of a dead bee on the sidewalk. The chirping of crickets. The tiny thuds of tardy junebugs. The heat of concrete.

Spoiled and air-conditioned, I’ve since largely ignored the emerald and amber of August. I miss the way she honeyed my bug-bitten legs and made a marigold of myself.

🌿🖤
Cap’n

Fav song rn: “Let’s Stay Together” - Al Green (1972)

Currently reading: Christodora - Tim Murphy (2016)