Start 9 (aka Calan Mai)

9 of 12 in the ’12 months IV series’

Mayday and to jingling bells
around tall poles and dancers tells
and cries of joy and yodelling yells
first day of summer comes

Midway twixt the equinox
and summer solstice twirl the frocks
with brightly coloured stripy socks
first day of summer comes

So dance we will as dance we must
with 'Calan Mai's' tradition thrust
as to these open arms in trust
first day of summer comes

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(a return to) Lancing Beach

6 of 12 in the ‘My very best’ series

Lightest of breeze, Sea in the air
Sounds of children playing down there
Green on the shingle, Cabbage White
Occasional bird in lazy flight
Blue of the sky, blue of the sea
White wispy clouds, soft buzzing bee
Shimmering distantly Worthing pier
Sometimes hazy, sometimes clear
Moored on horizon, fishing boats
Whilst nearer in shore swimmers float
Out to the east is Brighton’s sprawl
High in the air a seagull’s call
Perfect now the weather’s fine
Lancing Beach in summertime

Of an evening (revisited)

8 of 12 in ‘The Of…’ series from Jemverse 2022

Of an evening spent down by the sea
with waves lapping there quietly
I’ll let the silence encapsulate me
At the end of a wonderful day

Of an evening with the sky painted pink
as my toes in the sand slowly sink
I have time to ponder and think
At the end of a wonderful day

Uni sunt for summer

Where are the sunshine days
now winter's cold hand clasps?
Still there though faded now and weak
as summer never lasts

Yet there in the circle promise lies
and breath bated with a smile
knows with reassurance it
will come back in a while

Sunshine true

Some say it debilitates
that may be true
yet never from sunshine
you'll see me eschew
for as had been said here
many times in the past
I was born of the summer
and that fact will last
So to sunshine and warmth
I will gravitate and
promulgate all its virtues
so you'll understand

When it’s hot, I am (reprise)

6 of 10 in ‘The lavender series’ from Jemverse

I am part of the sunshine
It’s warmth lifts my soul
It revitalises and
with it I’m whole

I am part of the summer
Long days in the sun
with lavender lingering
when they are done

The sun I find

This time of year with pen in hand
I'll sit down in my garden and
as sunshine warms and shines and does
what in July it will because
this is summer, so will I
sit down and watch as time goes by
and words may come. they often do
reflecting on a whim eschewed
crafted from a poet's mind
inspired here by the sun I find

Melting Days

The mercury climbed to forty
for the hottest we had seen
records broken everywhere
from what they once had been
and everybody moaned
as no infrastructure here
to cope with extreme weather
when the high is in the clear
Ice-cream sales and paddling pools
brought respite here to some
but most of us just melted
in this gorgeous summer sun

©Jemverse

That lavender time again VII

I've long had a passion for lavender and
that time of years' here with clippers in hand
my Trug* will be filled with fragrance divine
which I've grown through the year and now is all mine
Sometimes there are casualties, plants come and go
some prosper well, but others (you know)
may give a few flowers then give up the ghost
but that's not too often and thankfully most
at this time of year when summer is high
bring my lavender heaven replete for a sigh

Fields of long summers II (part 6)

Concluding the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting days’ [12 of 12]

Those fields of long summers are here with me still
as though I've grown older I've not had my fill
the adventures have changed but I am far from done
as I'm still looking forward to summers to come

Fields of long summers II (part 5)

11 of 12 in the Jemverse summer series ‘Melting Days’

Those fields of long summers I expect to remain
returning to them again and again
with more adventures to come in grass baked by the sun
and in old age have days filled with laughter and fun

Fields of long summers II (part 4)

10 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

In fields of long summers explored as a man
I still have the fun 'cos I know that I can
For as long as the sun shines in blue of the sky
You'll find me out there with a satisfied sigh

Fields of long summers II (part 3)

9 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

In fields of long summers the colours of yellow
was ever there present for this happy fellow
reflecting the sunshine to which he was born
those summers were everything as per the norm

Fields of long summers II (part 2)

8 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

In fields of long summers I ran around free
full of the joys of just being me
All of the innocence given to youth
revealed in those moments full of the truth
and the sunshine was there as it always was
for this was the summer and simply because

Fields of long summers II (part 1)

7 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting days’

In fields of long summers explored as a child
seeking out blackberries that grew in the wild
Enjoying adventures in grass under sun
those were the days of laughter and fun

At the eve III (part 6)

6 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will embrace each of these pleasures
and there will be flotsam on the breeze
and the knowledge that all is well
and there I will find me

At the eve III (part 5)

5 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will settle to the embers
and there will be woodsmoke rising
and its humid perfume on the air
and there I will find feeling

At the eve III (part 4)

4 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will see echoes of a summer's child
and there will be the boy I once knew
and the man he is now
and there I will find rhythm

At the eve III (part 3)

3 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will dip my toes in cooling waters
and there will be the lap of an ebbing tide
and the taste of salt on my lips
and there I will find peace

At the eve III (part 2)

2 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will think as a rainbow
and there will be colours of summer
and the comfort of a captured smile
and there I will find a song

At the eve III (part 1)

1 of 12 in the Jemverse summer 22 series ‘Melting Days’

At the eve of this day
I will lie back in lavender
and there will be evening sunshine
and a deep breath of contentment
and there I will find a smile

One XI

11 of 12 in the ’12 months V’ series from Jemverse

With 'Dog Days' just beginning
July the first is here
for long hot days of summer
the ones I most revere
A child of summer born and bred
these are the days for me
getting browner in the sunshine
on the beach beside the sea

And the sun shone

And for a while the heat was quite intense
as the sun shone down from the sky
there was barely a breeze
to be felt on our knees
though the cloud to the east wasn't shy

Longest Day

The twenty-first, the longest day
and this 'Spanish Plume' remains
bringing heat for Solstice
for heady dancing gains
and I with best foot forward
claim the day all for my own
this solstice here in summer
in the June I've loved and known

©Jemverse

Passion’s Fire

My lavender's showing promise
it never fails to please
and yet I feel a growing urge
this passion to appease
the need to find more hardy stock
and plant them in this place
to yield more of that loveliness
that comes with summer's grace
So I am on a nursery quest
more lavender to acquire
as its majestic fragrance
fulfils this passion's fire

One X

10 of 12 in the Jemverse series ’12 months V’

And so to June, the mid-year glory
when summer smiles and hides no more
to writers and their story

One IX

9 of 12 in the Jemverse series ’12 months V’

Maybe May will find me
on the beach once more
as warmer days get warmer
and summer waits in store
Maybe May will be the one
to see those doors flung wide
for long days in the sunshine
no more the place to hide
Maybe May will see these things
as they're the thing to do
for the fifth month and summer
are quite symbiotic too

Thinking of summer when cold (reprise)

8 of 10 in the Jemverse Winter 22 series ‘Brittle Days’

When it’s cold in the winter
I will look to the sun
and think back to the summer
as I have always done
Back to the days
of whimsy and breeze
when a cool wisp is welcome
rustling quiet through the leaves