To think that summer
could fit inside a photograph,
its wide umbrellas,
rainbow beach balls,
carnival of gulls,
acres of burning bodies,
drinking the sun
that blazes off
ocean’s blue mirror
as you glide into the frame,
sand in your toes
and gritting up your yellow hair,
seawind frantic with
the smell of salt
blowing up your nose
as you push aside the heat
with your eyes to pose,
smooth down your brown skin
for a moment’s lightning,
cock your left knee to one side
in defiance of beauty,
completing a picture
of that one summer,
like it is a summer
for all time.

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John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, River And South and The Alembic. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Paterson Literary Review, White Wall Review and Cantos