The sun is rising earlier,
I’m not waking to the dark.
A whisper of warmth
brings a reminder:
festive times around the corner.
***
Beach adventures,
icy cold drinks —
condensation beads down glasses.
Flies encroach on
personal space
as you slumber in the sand.
***
Crisp leafy salads,
fine mist across their leaves.
The sweet, creamy essence
of mango flesh —
so delicious,
but the buzzing invaders
settle in.
***
Afternoon walks
catching the sea breeze,
accompanied by swarms of
winged beasts.
With every swat,
they return closer to your face.
***
Everyone’s winding down
for the year.
Cast away
calorie counts
and treadmill trips.
***
I wouldn’t change a thing
about my favourite time of year...
except maybe
the bloody flies.
About the Creator
Sandy Gillman
I’m a mum to a toddler, just trying to get through the day. I like to write about the ups and downs of parenting. I’m not afraid to tell it like it is. I hope you’ll find something here to laugh, relate to, and maybe even learn from.
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Comments (29)
Cutely accurate of a Western Australian summer!😅 When I visited W.A. back 1980, I bought a tee shirt saying something like: “Western Australia “The State of Excitement!” Stunt flying, hang gliding team. A billion flies can’t be wrong!” Accompanied by acrobatic fly images. I loved it & W.A., but not the flies trying to join every bite of my sandwich.😵💫
I wish summer was still here I think it’s seven outside right now. Great poem warmed me up can’t wait for the hot sunny days next year
This captures the Australian-summer vibe so perfectly it almost made me swat the air while reading.
That was a super fun and relatable snapshot of summer, Sandy! We are heading into winter, and I am about to hibernate.
I love this. I love it so. You capture so many of the wonderful aspects of summer. Summer is my favorite season of the year. I love the sun and I love the warm weather. I love your humor at the “Except maybe the bloody flies.”
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Back to tell you congrats on your leaderboard placement!!!
You are so making wish it was summer now. OK, I could do away with the flies. LOL.
Lol I developed some compassion for flies lately. So much I let them be. But this poem about the Sun rising earlier, longer days, and refreshing drinks was so nice to read. Especially when in this other hemisphere the Sun is taking a six-month break, the days are as dark as the nights, and my love for winter seems to be fading. So, your uplifting summer poem became a light and refreshing drink in the middle of the dark morning. :D
I like your approach here. Pushing away the feeling of winter, welcoming the memory of summer with the flies. The crispy leafy salad reminds me of being out in nature. We had a trip to this lovely place to eat, our seating area was so relaxing. Oh my. Thank you for stirring that memory by writing that line. Winged beast 😍 'With every swat, they return closer to your face'. Love the playfulness and truth of this.
I wish it was summer. It's been raining for a week in AZ! I can certainly relate about the flies. Well done!!
Delightful poem, Sandy! Summer is over far too soon in my book.
Excellent! Such great summer evocations and then - the flies! I appreciate the warmth you've communicated and the irritation of the pests.
Hard to relate as this morning I had to break the ice on the birdfeeder. But how I long for summer. ❤️
Nice!!💖💕💖
Summer’s indeed almost here for us Southern Hemisphereans!! Great piece.
I have always hated summer but I absolutely adore the way you made it seem so enticing. The salad in particular made me actually long for summer. I am more of an autumn girl myself but I love this! Except the flies lol! Flies and mosquitos can definitely stay gone 😅😅
So true. Love the images of summer, even the annoying ones! Let's add mosquitoes to that group! Nice work.
Fantastic writing Sandy! Bravo!
Love this piece, I can really feel your essence in this beautiful. someone in Australia brought one of my ebooks was this you Sandy thank you so much I had a look at my reports yesterday and I was so happy and felt so much kindness and love.
Is it summer where you are, cause i'm freezing my bum off. So summer in my mind sounds lovely.
Well-wrought! Flies are just there so frogs and spiders have food, I think. A nuisance for us, but a boon for the frogs and spiders!
Hahah lovelly. Yeah true Sandy Indeed flies are here to stay. haha @Sandy Gillman
I loved how you drew us into the pleasant calm of Summer then contrasted the peaceful scene with the annoyance of the ever present buzzing invaders. Each stanza brought us back to that calm just in time for another swoop in from the winged pests. Just like in life, right when we're fully immersed in the joy of Summer, inevitably the flies turn up out of no where. This was the perfect allegory. Enjoy your warm weather. I'll think of you tomorrow morning while I'm out scraping my windshield.
This is a lovely protest against the winter 😃