July

"July is the beginning of the year's prime of life...

The long days roll by on greased axles,

laden with tall grass, new-cut and drying in the sun,

the corn knee-high and ready for hoeing,

potatoes, squashes and pumpkins in bloom,

sweet peas climbing up chicken wire to cover the shed wall

with pink, white, red and lavender,

pond lilies starring every spring-fed pool of water

and filling a washtub under the dooryard tree.

The nights are short and the dark is thin and soft,

a-twinkle with  fireflies,

heavy with the heat of the sun 

which has scarcely gone down

when the east begins to brighten,

and rich with the smell of fruit and flowers and swamp

and the sea on the other side of the mountain."

Gladys Hasty Carroll