Come Back Summer

by Jeremy Gadd

Come back summer, all is forgiven!
Bring back the days of heat relieving
swims in soothing salt brine of the bay;
of perspiration prickling between shoulder blades;
of sitting in the shade of leafy trees;
of the teasing pleasure of the slightest breeze;
of margarine melting when making sandwiches
and the dehydrating bread curling, as if in agony,
under the heat’s hot breath; of the slightest
exertion requiring the quenching of thirst.
Even daylight saving had its merits.
Come back warm summer, all is forgiven!
Summer is a hundredfold better than damp,
wet, westerly winds, leaf-mold, this constant cold.