Wellfleet: July

 

The Fourth almost didn’t happen this year.

Our hurricane, demoted to tropical storm,

sheared off branchlets of oak leaves and black locust.

Tomato and pepper, those tender nightshades

lost a leaf or two, no cause for worry.

The sea ‘s another matter.

Riptides spotted and warnings on whiteboard

near the lifeguard’s chair.

Better to walk in shallow water

Look for perfect round stones,

Or pull at bright green mermaid hair

To see what cluster of shells it’s fastened to.

We dig our toes into the sand,

The pull of the shore is irresistible

Familiar, unrelenting.

 

 

 

Cottage Industry

 

Fat bumblebees have commandeered the lavender

Two or three to a slender stem, dulled by competition

They’ve occupied the green and purple hedge

outside the kitchen door.

Leaning down, I hear a low rumble.

Mindlessly they hang on the purple nodes.

They’re stuck between harmony and desire,

their motors so loud they’re

unaware of the earth mover’s sounds

the house being built, the road being paved,

the grinding punctuated by beeps

in the middle distance.

 

The bees will stay at their work till sundown

Drunk with lavender juice

I’m stuck between harmony and desire myself

Our old apple trees have dropped their fruit too soon.

Tomorrow there’ll be rain.

Few bees will report for duty.

The lavender will stand tall, unweighted by these busybodies.

I’ll be on the road back to the city,

All news all the time.

The bees will take no notice of my leaving.

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday in July

 

 

Sun, then not-sun, clouds

Then not-clouds,

Warm, then not-warm.

This slender land can’t make up

its meteorological mind today.

Cool breezes,

Fungi of every color erupting–

red, colonies of chocolate brown

or white and innocent-looking,

something you might find in your salad.

Not much to do save

Listen to Bill Evans ply the piano

Wrestle with the crossword

Turn off the phone. Dream.

 

 

Lynne Viti, who wandered up the East Coast from Baltimore and ended up in Boston,  teaches  in the Writing Program  at Wellesley College. Her work has appeared in Soujourner, Meat for Tea: The Valley Review, Barefoot Review, and at Boston and Portland, Oregon City Halls.