it's getting late in the summer.
people are noticing the sun passes beneath the horizon earlier.
the nights have a coolness about them
that will seem warm - even hot - next spring.
the canada geese have been doing practice v's over our house for a couple of weeks.
and the breezes now have bronze, then silver fingers
that bring your elbows in close to your body
when you're sitting outside.
the indoor plants know.
some of them have dropped some leaves.
the outdoor plants are offering single leaves.
red.
yellow.
and there are the flowers.
who are there.
simply there.
despite:
cool nights.
ants.
dry ground.
twenty rays -
a floral corona.
the dayseye hugging the earth
in august, ha! spring is
gone down in purple,
weeds stand high in the corn,
the rainbeaten furrow
is clotted with sorrel
and crabgrass, the
branch is black under
the heavy mass of the leaves--
the sun is upon a
slender green stem
ribbed lengthwise.
he lies on his back--
it is a woman also--
he regards his former
majesty and
round the yellow center,
split and creviced and done into
minute flowerheads, he sends out
his twenty rays-- a little
and the wind is among them
to grow cool there!
(excerpted from) "the daisy" william carlos williams
29 comments:
Hey there, Steven!
Have been busy and am sorry to have been so remiss about reading others' blogs and leaving comments, especially yours.
Tonight, while we have no breeze, for the first time in a good long while have at least something less than a sauna bath going for/against us when we step outside. This has been one hot summer!
Yes, the sun seems significantly lower every day, but you're right about the light in the evening and the coolness. It's very sweet. At our place the Vine Maples are turning red and the Arbutus bark is drifting down. Summer's end is so nostalgic.
What a perfect poem for these days. And I love William Carlos Williams. Love the photographs, too. Oh, and by the way, your banner is just gorgeous!
Hello Steven
I find I keep going back to look at the swirls in the centre of the daisy that are like a sand mandala and mesmerising in their perfect pattern...
Happy days
I just noticed that first delicious hint of autumn in the air this weekend, in the cool morning and telling scent. I relish the fall.
hi goldenrod, priorities right!!! blogging will very shortly shift quite a way down the scale when i return to teaching!!!! my wife announced a couple of days ago that she "could live in texas". she can't stand cool or cold temperatures. i told her of what i have learned from my texan blogger chums. she was not put off. she loves the heat. me? well i like the 70's - 80's (F) and i know that those days are far and few during a normal texan summer. thanks for dropping by. steven
hi joanna, you're in bc right? my brother lives in vancouver and i haven't thought to ask him how the weather is now because they had snow, bitter cold and high heat in the past year. summer is nostalgic in many ways - you're right there..... have a lovely day. steven
After living in an apartment for 12years, I am so glad to be in a house with grass and trees and flowers - I feel like I'm connecting to the earth again. Your blog definitely helps with that process. Thanks for the daisy!
Such a lovely ode to the end of summer - here, too a few leaves are anxiously turning color though the real display waits for October. Last night and this morning were cooler than the past two weeks - it was hot and humid then! Your photos are grand.
hi kathleen - thanks so much!!!! we're surrounded by beauty and magic if we stop just long enough to allow ourselves to open to it. have a lovely day. steven
hi delwyn, this little fellow is surrounded by a large family of thistles!!! it truly is spectacular even though it's only a very tiny flower. have a lovely day by the river! steven
hello bug, i remember when my family finally moved out of our apartment after a decade and into a house with a very tiny garden, it was still magic for us to have a piece of earth to do something with - even if for the most part it was just cutting grass!!!! lucky you!!!! steven
hi pauline, thankyou for the kind comments. today has a very autumnal feel about - right on the cusp really - a cool breeze, clouds scudding across like great battleships, then brilliant hot sunshine!!! moving closer to my favourite time of the year!!!! steven
I agree with Willow - I just love all the signs of change our senses detect at this time of year.
It is perhaps a little more poignant this year, as it is a bit of a stretch to claim we even had a summer.
However, I look forward to the glories and work of Autumn - it is my very favourite season, along with Spring, Winter and Summer that is . . . :)
Hope you are transitionning happily to going back to work. Will it mean you will be posting less? I hope not - but understand if that is the case.
While I appreciate the beauty of the Fall leaves, we've had such a short summer this year I'm sad to see evidence of them so early.
However beautiful the picture.
I'm just not ready yet.
Steven,
Yes, sadly the crickets are chirping in the hollows,
" Go back to school, Linda!!!!!"
I noticed on our trip up to Peterborough, sugar maples beginning their colour change. The fat lady is not singing yet, though Steven.
In this poem by Williams it is interesting that he chose a late summer flower to herald the fall. Most poems use flowers to awaken the spring or talk about summer. Cool choice on your part!
The last two mornings there has been a cool, dryness in the air here in central Texas. We shall likely have more very warm days, but I'm beginning to think autumn is around the corner. I see it in the later arrival of the morning sun. Have a wonderful day! Lizzy
That would have made a good addition to our bookshelves steven, that lovely carlos williams poem. An enjoyable blog, as usual. Have a nice evening.
Ah, my favorite flower, the daisy. Less showy than her floral cousin the rose, she's still my all time favorite.
Please explain to your dear wife that while HOT is bearable, it truly is that HUMIDITY thing which makes those temperatures miserable. Humid is like having an elephant stand on your chest while trying to breath underwater. ;)
But thanks for making this such a cool place to visit.
hi bonnie - it was a mixed summer much like last year's int he sense that there wasn't a clearly defined summer. it meandered between rainy cool and sunny hot with a humid blast from our cousins to the south. i will not blog less. there will be a post every day. i can see my writing fewer comments in response to comments. i hope you know that i am not comfortable with that as i like to respond to everyone who arrives here but it might be something i can't afford. i'm one of those devoted teachers for whom the success and happiness of my students comes a close second to the success and happiness of my family!!!! thanks so much for your comments to day!! steven
barry - i have to say that a part of me agrees with you if only because what bonnie says is so true - we're not really letting go of summer because we haven't really had a summer as such!! there's an awful lot i love about summer (although i love the autumn much more than any other time of year). it will be what it will be! have a peaceful day. steven
hi linda, there are signs galore although i haven't seen any sugar maples turning. but i know they're out there!!! yes, i'll be back in school for the next two days setting up my class. then a weekend to lick my wounds, two more days of classroom setup then another day off to cry and moan and weep and play and then two p.a. days. then the long weekend and then back on until next june. oh by the way, if this comes off as a complaint it truly isn't!! i love teaching. love it. but letting go of all of this freedom is always difficult!!!! have a peaceful evening. steven
hi lizzy! a cool dryness!!! that's very different to what i was expecting but it makes sense. do you get trees turning colour in the autumn lizzy? i am having a wonderful day thankyou. guests have been dropping by all day - just because!!! have a lovely evening. steven
hi weaver - i'm glad that you enjoyed your visit. have a lovely evening in the dale. steven
hello hope, i love the daisy for its simplicity (apparent simplicity!!) and then when you get in close you find out - ahhh there's much more here. i like that about people also!! i'll pass on the info to my wife. humidity is the only part of summer that istruggle with. heat i can manage but humidity just crushes me physically and it takes days to recover after it has gone.
i'm so glad that you enjoy your visits here hope - i enjoy your comments very much!!! steven
Hello steven (thanks for following my blog).
"a floral corona"
How lovely!
hi liza, it's a pleasure to follow your blog. wickedgood writing and pictures!!!! you're a talent!! thanks for dropping by! steven
Autumn can't come too soon! We're eager for our favorite season!
it's always interesting to me, the associations that things like flowers gain for different people. the poem is beautiful. for me the daisy is permanently associated with the end of june, and the start of the summer.
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