Sweet Summer

Jul 18, 2008 | This Life | 12 comments

So sweet, the air is at night. I sneak out late bearing on early; walking past the honeysuckle bush. Past the roses, past the gate, past the world I know. The air at night, is ever so sweet.

But I’m not smelling honeysuckle. I’m not smelling roses or the faint drifts of sea-air. I’m not breathing this air. I refuse. Holding my breath, I am haunted by landscapes I no longer know. Streets with different names. Sounds and scents and images I no longer know. My past is glittery, a mirage at midnight. I no longer know. I no longer know.

There is a line in the pavement, down the middle I walk. Deep in the night, the safest place is the middle. In real life, the safest place is the middle. Always. Deep in the night, alone; transported to an air that smells of jasmine and cedar and the same ocean drifting past me. Only warmer. Always only warmer.

I am holding my breath. Tonight I am holding this sweet summer air in my lungs; afraid to exhale.

12 Comments

  1. IZ on 18 July, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    Thinking of tuber roses and ocean surf?

    ______________________________________
    Baby, I want to go home. ~W

  2. IZ on 18 July, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    By the way, beautifully written… thank you for putting yourself out here…

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    You’re welcome. ~W

  3. Stacey @ Happy Are We on 18 July, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    I hear you.

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    I bet. ~W

  4. Margaret on 18 July, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    My trips into the past are often brought on by childhood mementos, photos or writings–both mine and my children’s. I love your vision of a moonlight walk. Lovely post.

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    Thank you, Margaret. The oddest things tend to send me. And usually my nose is involved. ~W

  5. Marie on 18 July, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    Beautiful.

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    Thank you. ~W

  6. Marilyn on 18 July, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    Wow, this entry is very appropriate for what’s been going on in my head lately. Thank you for writing this!

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    Thank you so much for your comment. Your blog is lovely! ~W

  7. kat on 19 July, 2008 at 6:24 am

    so lovely 🙂

    ______________________________________
    Thank you. ~W

  8. katie on 19 July, 2008 at 7:56 am

    *sigh*
    and, amen

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    I need to go catch up with your blog… my head has been DOWN working! ~W

  9. Liza Lee Miller on 19 July, 2008 at 11:45 pm

    Very poignant. Big sigh.

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    Thanks, Liza Lee. ~W

  10. vicki on 20 July, 2008 at 5:08 am

    restless and making forays forward and back, I see. Flirt, tease- either way you are intriguing but this beautifully written post spoke to me. The scent of the past- now that has a strong pull, especially if it includes salt air. Happy Sunday, Wende.

  11. vicki on 20 July, 2008 at 5:08 am

    And Happy Birthday, Iz. You don’t know old.

  12. HG on 20 July, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    You are too a tease 😛

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    Ok, sometimes. 😀 ~W