Those sighs are for elsewhere;
a longing for summer to hasten on
just as July has come hotfooting here.
Dry's the air, your sweat a dampener
like the brook in our wood
at a trickle, tiny telltale autumn tints
and your own turning away.

41 thoughts on “Telltale”

1. I too have a ‘longing for summer to hasten on’, Laura, and enjoy the ‘tiny telltale autumn tints’. The twist at the end is so sad.

   1. I want it to last for ever but he obviously did not 😉

2. This is exquisitely woven, Laura! The opening line tugs at my heart 💜💜

   1. that’s good to know, thank you Sanaa – especially as your are such a romantic

      p.s. I hope your WordPress probs are soon sorted and you are back as I cannot comment on blogger even though I sign in to google

      1. You’re most welcome! 😘

         p.s. The issue should be resolved soon!

3. Laura, I love the “T’s” in this. Exceptional poetry comes from choosing the best words for the spaces in the poem to fill. Hotfooting and telltale are 2 swell ones. I’m not sick of summer and am not ready for signs of what’s next quite yet.

   1. what heartening feedback – thank you Lisa for setting the tone with Turn

      1. You are welcome. Good to read you again.

4. A heartfelt piece Laura 💞

   1. Thank you

5. That last line is so sad!

   1. Many thanks It took me by surprise as the poem developed

6. Beautifully sad Laura! But I love summer.

   1. The poet is a summer lover but the lover is not! Thank you Grace

7. “Just as July has come hotfooting here”Ah yes….it certainly does that here in Boston! Hot and humid….Some say there are only two seasons in Boston, winter and the 4th of July. Don’t believe it! July is brutal!

8. In all art just the right amount of scorpion poison…you set that up so nicely, in every way…be careful what you wish for…

   1. Not scorpion surely but maybe the almost imperceptible bite of a mosquito- thank you for your appreciation Ain

9. Nicely done, Laura. That turning aways is always a sign of things to come!

   1. yes the signs are usually there Dwight

      1. :>)

10. Poignant!

    1. thank you Rosemary

11. Love the use of “hotfooting” here. The torrential rain we’re getting is cooling it down a bit here.

    1. I like it when words just pop into the poet’s head without thinking

12. Laura, this feels quietly powerful to me. The slow ebb of summer you’ve captured seems to echo something deeper in the speaker—subtle, yet deeply felt.

    ~David

    1. adroitly and sensitively observed David thank you – the prodromal symptoms of something about to end for these two

13. What expresses grief more strongly than to wish time and season to hurry on – very poignant Laura…

    1. grief may be comes later – first there is this unease – thank you Andrew

14. This is an exceptional poem, Laura–so poignant, not a word wasted. The last two lines are absolutely perfect.

    1. high praise indeed Merril (blush) but thank you!

       1. You’re welcome, Laura! 😊

15. So poignant, especially that ending that confirms that the discontent with the season is woven with longings for other hastenings.

    1. Spot on so thank you for that

16. I love the sense of longing here.

    1. thank you Kim

17. Nice alliteration at the end there. 👏

    1. I love an alliterative additive though it must come naturally – thank you

18. Great poem, Laura! Love the alliteration!

    Yvette M Calleiro 🙂

    1. thank you Yvette

19. this poem, to me, says, “just go, already … ” in a pained, get-it-over-with kind of way. of course i LOVED it. 🙂 xx, ren

20. Ah summer, those days of light and heat, fun even, which can taunt us when there’s the grief of an ending in its midst. Very moving.

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