Hats off to summer
To the creaking slap
Of screen doors
To fly-swatters
Once in reserve
Now on active duty
To the 1812 overture
On the Fourth of July
Accompanied by thunder

To fireworks
That make a
Black summer’s night
A kaleidscope of colors
To rainbows
That surprise you
After a thunderstorm

To white sheets
On clothes-lines
That flap
Like birds wings
To seagulls standing
By the shore
Watching waves like surfers

To making sandcastles
And finding hermit-crabs
To the sand in your shoes
When you arrive home

 To finding a homemade
Lemonade stand
On a hot day
To the smile
Upon the faces
Of the children
That serve you

 To front porches
With rocking chairs
Occupied
To strangers
Who nod hello

To earlier sunrises
And later sunsets
For lazy times ahead

To summer
To all
It unfolds.

By Lorraine Stark