Golden Summer

It's been seven years since the first of our three children graduated from high school and the emptying of our nest began.  And every year around this time when graduation is just around the corner, I think about how I felt at the beginning of that summer:

GOLDEN SUMMER

I want a golden summer

before change walks in the door

I want to memorize the days

before one is gone

and two remain.

I want bright blue sunny days

and starry moonlit nights

to laugh and talk and dream and play

before five is four

and life is strange.

I want to wake up early

while the house is still asleep.

I want time to hope and pray

to read and write

and think.

I want the tang of lemonade,

the smoke of barbecue,

the ripe sweet red of berries,

and soft-serve

ice cream cones,

I want to stay up watching movies

and play every game we own.

I want to s t r e t c h out every minute,

and I want time

to s l o w.

I want to bounce with roof balls,

to soar high with a kite,

to skim the air with Frisbee flair,

to dip and skip

in flight.

I want to think about what was

and soak up all that is

before I face the what will be

when summer ends

and change begins.