Monday, 9 June 2014

The Blue House




Hemmed on all four sides by ‘development’ an old blue house.

Three sisters. All senior citizens. Five cats. Dozens of hummingbirds. Cats stalking hummingbirds. Peonies, giant orbs in shades of pink. Lilac and honeysuckle. Summer, rhapsody in blue– blue iris then blue delphinium, blue hydrangea, blue geranium, blue African lilies, blue cornflowers, blue borage, blue salvia– interrupted periodically by yellow and white daffodils, white lilies and always the beautiful peonies nodding on stalks overwhelmed.

A shovel pushed with a foot and then pushed once again. Mulch and manure. Rain, sun, rain and rain. Rhubarb, chard, runner beans, tomato, peppers and corn. White plastic chair. Shucking corn, shelling beans. Spring to summer. Till all the leaves fall down.

The hummingbirds gone far, far south. Lonely cat at the window. Summer slips to memory. Another done. Catalogued by number of years. Or, perhaps fears. But always in shades of blue– the color of summer, the color of joy. The color of eternity.

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