the remarkable days of summer

June Poems: 1/2

On a day like today
With overcast skies
And the implication of rain
I thumb through my memories
In search of sunny times.
For the remarkable days of summer when I got it right.
Like when a chance recommendation
Sent my husband and I away from
The beach that had sand like an outdoor ashtray
And to the locals’ lake.
An oasis tucked in the hills.
Clear blue water lapping over a bed of rounded stones.
The sun above solitary and unfailing.
We below,
Reclined on grass easing our way through the afternoon.
Entering the fresh water was an inevitability
As well as a pleasure.
With a hat and proper sunscreen
I avoided a beach day hangover.

These are the magnificent days I am in search of
And that are so elusive in this place I call home.

Give me California.
Hawaii.
The Okanagan.
Give me a pool in Arizona
Where I am a lone woman
Under a hat that obscures my features.
Who is in repose on a tangerine lounge chair
At a life-sized Barbie hotel
Reading love poems by Bukowski.