“And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!”
Robert Browning ~ “Home-thoughts, from abroad”
And after May...but I wish for a never after holding fast as Faust to that month's moments when quiet lanes foam at the mouth with birdsong froth-full of petal and wild chervil Such an eruption of aqua vitae! Pouring though every pore of earth and in one rush of landscaping, readily spreads like the ingénue's awkward blush It is green loitering on the brink of solstice neither tenderfoot nor a mature and motherly shade - but really there are no words this side of purple lest we tangle in hyperbole around the Maypole Call me melancholic if you will. For when the budding month is set to swell bursting in a boisterous cannonade of confetti days I flag the voyaging vessel with signals of distress June comes now, spring-heeled and hot on the scent of an all-too-soon, consummated summer. Yet spin we must, in synchrony with time and motion or forfeit the chance of heaven
Re-working a past draft poem, timely for this time of year and also Open Link Night @dVerse, where unprompted anything goes
PoetryPix 
I like re-working drafts, Laura, it’s exciting to dust them off and find a rare forgotten gem. I love that this one was inspired by lines from Browning’s ‘Home-thoughts, from abroad’, one of the many poems we learned y heart at school. I like the phrase ‘holding fast as Faust’ and the image of quiet lanes foaming at the mouth with birdsong’. My favourite lines:
‘June comes now, spring-heeled and hot on the scent
of an all-too-soon, consummated summer’.
this one was almost how I wanted it but it stayed in drafts till the feelings came back for it! Yes Browning’s poem and the like, one of our school days must haves. thank you for your kind comments Kim
Laura, such beautiful writing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you make it look easy.
what a lovely thing to say Lisa – I wish!
❤
I can feel the resistance of time and I appreciated the unique voice/attitude of moving forward into the next season prematurely. I especially like “but really, there are no words this side of purple / lest we tangle in hyperbole around the maypole”. Exquisite and thought-provoking. I agree with Lisa….you make it look easy.
many thanks Mish for hosting OLN and for all your feedback. Resistance is very much a part of the mood of the poem – hence King Canute/Cnut demonstrated our powerlessness against elemental time
So much to love here. I really like this imagery:
“when quiet lanes foam at the mouth with birdsong
froth-full of petal and wild chervil”
❤️
thank you Melissa for your appreciation of my impressionist brush stroke of words 🙂
This is absolutely exquisite, Laura! I especially love; “June comes now, spring-heeled and hot…” 💜💜💜💜
thank you Sanaa – at the mo though June has come in cold hearted 😉
Every season is tinged with the adjoining ones. Time…(K)
true but I wish some stayed longer
And some shorter as well.
and everything burns like it was the Sun from whence it came and never forgets.
there’s no home like an old home?
🙂
and no month as gorgeous as May!
Yeah, it can’t be May forever. But I wish it could. May is just the right temperature. Anyway, onward and upward (to Narnia and The North) we go. Loved your words. Be well, dear Laura. xoxo
to Narnia where it is always winter and Christmas never comes – that is how that season makes me feel hence the glorious days of May
I agree with you about May.
“when quiet lanes foam at the mouth with birdsong
froth-full of petal and wild chervil”
Lovely writing, Laura.
thank you Merril – “gather ye rosebuds while ye May” 😉
You’re welcome. Yes! 🙂
Yes, Laura, spin we must or we lose the privilege and fun. Love your take Ma’am! Great close!
Hank
thanks Hank!