Poems for Summer

From the Sonnets of Antonio Vivaldi

Summer (Concerto no 2 in G minor)

Allegro non molto

Under the unforgiving sun of the season
The man and the herd are languishing, the pine is burning.
The cuckoo begins to sing and immediately
The dove and the goldfinch join him.
A light breeze is blowing, but Boreas
Woke up to suddenly fight with his neighbor,
And the shepherd cries because above his head
The formidable storm and its destiny.

Adagio

His weary limbs are deprived of rest
Fear of lightning and scary thunder
And flies and hornets swarming.

Presto

Alas, his fears come true:
Thunder and lightning are raging in the skies.
And the hail cuts down the great wheat.

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Poem from Michigan Writers

Spring into Summer
By Robb Astor

so many soft and ruddy cherry blossoms
not just opening
but also loosening one by one
petals on the wind
a bumblebee in the lavender
clings with all its meager weight
the bowed down frond
the bee’s lone purchase in the world
overwhelmed with pitcher's thistle
aster and chicory
milkweed and rudbeckia
it is the sun that reigns
the beach days
claiming they will never end

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Poem from Michigan Writers

Summer 
By Teresa Scollon

I won’t lie to you, Antonio.
Summer is joy and also worry.
The birds are here–robins, jays,
four kinds of woodpeckers,
songbirds. They build their nests,
raise their young, fill the air
with song at each end of the day,
keep on keeping on. Except
on the smoky days, when birds
don’t sing, when we can see
and smell the northern forests
burning. It’s so dry. So hot.
The heat lasts, and lasts, and settles,
a heavy blanket we can’t kick off.