Two For July One

evanescent tending to vanish like vapor

Scene from the Arch

The serene summer night explodes.
Bursts of evanescent sparks
shower blue and gold, silver and red,
overlay moon, stars, and each other.
Celebratory sounds bombard the ears
and disappear into memory.

ML

In a more quiet way, a gardener may see another side of July and do what little can be done to make amends.

A Gardener's Atonement

At the toe edge of a footprint in warm dry earth,
A tomato worm, ruptured, just past agony, still:
Velvet moss skin, riven, emits yellow-green effluent,
Bulging obesity suspended in slime.

The shadow of a hand sweeps across the blight,
Dims the shining ooze and withdraws,
Leaving behind a sprig of stalk,
Ragged leaf, yellow star blossom
And a bittersweet pungency in the air.

ML

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote

Oh, tenderly the haughty day
Fills his blue urn with fire.