Patricia, Do You Remember?

Patricia, do you remember July?
The lake like glass, and you and I
and all the cousins were there. Do you
remember the yellow sky, the blue air?
 
The cicada hum, the shrill loon,
the loudness at dawn, the stillness
at noon. That dusty country track,
do you remember walking back

between the white birch, the green
pine? Then the dog had seen some
fluttering thing and, what a sight!,
jumped right into that bank of

columbine. We laughed and burned
our cheeks and sang those songs and
turned our feet toward home again.
Patricia, do you remember when?

(1991)

(1976)