summer pains
a sunburn that outlines your swimsuit, straps and all
sore muscles from hours of treading water with a new friend
starving for something to eat, other than lake water
feet stinging on the hot sand as you both run to your towel
sand that never stays on the ground, you can taste the grit
sharing a now hot soda, as the fizz burns your throat
laughing till your abs hurt
hour after hour
trying to wipe the sweat out of your eyes, but instead adding sand
looking out on the lake as the sun’s reflection stings your eyes
as you turn back, your new friend leans in with a smile
tasting the salt of their lips
as time passes
the sun starts to set
you pack up your towel
hold hands
say a long good bye
mumbling something about staying in contact
knowing now
the summer sun isn't the only thing that stings

Summer time
summer love
burning
as hot as the summer sun
electrifying
brighter than the summer stars

summer time, summer love
but seasons do change
and summer only lasts every summer
so before you go, kiss me hard
kiss me long, the one that lingers
kiss me, the one that will get me through
the next summer

it's you.

i would have never known
unless i saw
the light meet your face
that morning.

neither of us are early risers,
but i couldn't waste
a second.

above me,
at 6:40 in the morning,
a perfect blend of
blue, gray, and sincerity,
which was born
on the rising sun,
peered through an ivory curtain,
and landed on a gentle face.

infinity soaked gaze,
honey coated touch,

your color was
the crisp mountain air
through a rolled down
Jeep window.

your color was
a John Prine record
and local barbeque

your color was serene.
it was the light's reflection of
a summer enveloped
by two people
in love with
right now.

-Anna Blake

i left your wine glass
on my bedside table

for seven days
it settled in the very place
that your hands had aimlessly
chosen

staining a ring around a mostly empty bodice.

mostly empty?
barely full?

you see, for me,
the wine glass was
my way of having you
stay as long as I wanted.

I saw your delicate
fingerprints stamped upon
the stem and body

just as they were on mine, under a tin roof
amidst a blanket of summer rain.

                                 ......

i washed the glass tonight

as you boarded the plane to the rest of your life.

i wonder if you'll think of me as you sip on your complimentary glass.

rouge ou blanc, mon amour?
rouge comme mon amour?
ou blanc comme mon remise?

-Anna Blake

Cups of coffee and plates with sugar crumbs
from pastry warm with cinnamon and cardamom,
and books overturned on antique tables
with scruff marks and scratches, loved, well-used,
(and me, in the middle of it all, listening to the
heartbeat of this country and its sincerity,
learning wisdom through small things).
He is a six foot springtide of caffeine and literature,
effervescent with sincerity and kindness and warmth.
I smile at him over the rim of my cup, and
suddenly I am swept up and moving with
his current, in love with him and a summer
spent scribbling into casebound notebooks
and with my hair flying in the wind that rustles
the trees around us, and with his lips on my neck.
Wild roses on brick walls and wooden window frames,
and the lavender growing on the curb all smile,
content to witness summer love bloom like
all things tend to do, in this season and this place.
I let him explain to me the stars in nights that
never seem to really begin but last forever;
he teaches me in not-quite darkness what
they mean, and I tell him under fairy-lights
how small I feel in the multitude of this universe.
He nods solemnly and I feel his breath in my hair,
holding me on this earth as he shows me galaxies.

- lund. cs.

sunkissed skin and vibrant skies,
warm season has always been the same
but when i met those summer dazed eyes,
i knew that trouble just came

he had lips that kissed wetter than the ocean
he had arms like waves that swallowed me
he filled my summer with cuddly flirtations
he filled thousands of sunflowers within me

but just like how summer came to an end,
he left and autumn arrived with tears to shed
and just like how abandoned flowers would be,
they eventually died inside of me

that summer was more than fifty shades of love
turned into an endless waves of misery
just wishing upon the tangerine sky above
that tides will bring him back to me

Last Summer I dream't that I danced with you around the same time this year.
Alone in the park by the soles of filled shoes.
The indie sound of hearts racing in constant wonderment.
Tuning down the sound of our voices.
Our hands fitting perfectly inside one another.
The light of our eyes illuminating the sun.
Last Summer I couldn't begin to tell you how much I loved you.
Pyromaniacs in love with the Summer sun.
Falling in love with the deep circles our feet made.
Dancing alone in the park, recognizing ourselves in the reflection see through each others eyes.
The only escape that fills the massive void felt last Summer.
Listening to the sound of your voice laying down.
Feeling whole. Your hand inside if mine.
A recreation of this Summer seen last Summer.
Slowly looking up, holding on to the memories of last Summer

hug me once again
smile at me once again
take my hand once again
it's not love
i swear

i feel save in your arms
i feel good when we laugh
my heart races when we touch
but it's not love
i swear

just like a rainbow cast over stormy seas,
you shined your light and it just surrounded me,
illuminating life's pure beauty,
earth and seas, and stones and trees, and birds and bees,
i stumbled bumbled right off your buzz,
your honey kiss, sweet sticky lips cant get enough,

and i know im not falling in love,
i dont fall down,
not when you're around,
im rising up up up,

just like a light inside of crystal caves,
the more i watch you the more the darkness fades,
and i let your sweet voice lead the way,
it leaves me dazed for days,
maybe its infatuation,
caused by recent separation,
my situation's even testin my own patience,
now im sittin waitin,
for some kind of new creation,
im blamin' fate and, i find im hatin',
way too much and way too often,
need new touch, escape this coffin,
my heart is stoppin, and surely droppin
i miss your fresh perspective,
smart and consciously selective,
perfectly hectic,
thats how i expect it,

and i know im not falling in love,
i dont fall down,
not when you're around,
im rising up