june is…

We’re nearing the end of June which means that 2007 is just about half over. Can you believe it? Weren’t we just bringing in the new year a minute ago?

I don’t make resolutions at the beginning of the year, but I do find that the midway point is a good time to look back on the previous six months—and that’s pretty much what June means to me.

So here is my June Monthly Musing with a special thanks to Leonardo, my lion and partner in crime as part of the pride at the Shameless Lions Writing Circle:

June is…

A melody of reflections
Accompanied by

Bright beams of light
Sneaking in through tiny cracks
You couldn’t have seen when it was dark,

Torturous heat
Making me nostalgic for
The days of two or more pairs of socks,

Crackles and pops
Choking billows of grey smoke
From the pungent, annual wildfires,

Summer peaches
Bursting with sweet innocence
Of childhood, bicycles, swimming pools,

Spotted night skies
Glistening with such knowledge
That I truly can see forever.

Where have I been? Where will I go?
Where are the answers?

Dream on.

How does June make you feel? What comes to mind when you think of June? Do tell!

*P.S. After I posted this, I went over to Cheeky’s place and read her post entitled “Remembering: Way Back.” So much of it reminds me of June and summer and good times that I wholeheartedly recommend your going over there to check it out. And tell Cheeky I sent you!

—————

[tags]june, poetry, middle of the year[/tags]

25 Beans of Wisdom to “june is…”
  1. JennieBoo
    06.23.2007

    What a lovely post.

    Thank you for sharing.

    It brightened my day!

  2. cheeky
    06.23.2007

    Do geniuses think alike, or what?
    Too funny! I was debating on whether or not to do my tribute to June,as I have not yet, and voila here is yours. . . . and then to top it all off my post related to your post . . . . . .and well, here we are. I love it!
    You summed it up for me with innocence, childhood, bicycles and swimming pools.

  3. Anonymous
    06.23.2007

    great poem, am feeling all those things at this time too. only thing i would add are the little bats who have recently appeared and flit around like mad at dusk… vanessa

  4. sognatrice
    06.23.2007

    Jennie, always glad to brighten–thanks 🙂

    Cheeky, “great minds think alike” in Italian is actually more like “the geniuses meet.” Too funny! We’re definitely on the same wavelength today–hope it’s big enough for the two of us 😉

    Vanessa, funny you should mention the bats! A reader emailed me asking if I was sure that those birds I wrote about the other day weren’t pipistrelli; our bats come out when it’s already dark, and believe me, there is a *huge* difference between what they do and what those pretty birds do (and say!).

  5. Judith in Umbria
    06.23.2007

    You are programed to like June. It’s when you got out of school for years and years. You are programed to be energetic in September. You started anew in school then for years and years.

    June is good, maybe great. Lick it up.

  6. rochambeau
    06.23.2007

    Dear Sognatrice,
    Your June poem is beautiful.
    You remind me of delicious Italian peaches sliced in a wine glass and topped with chilled white wine, then eating the peaches one by one with a fork, then sipping the wine. I think I’ll do that tonight and make a toast to you over there in Italy who is gazing at the vast starry night!

  7. Kali
    06.24.2007

    I’ve been gone (in Italy! *sigh*)…now I get to spend a lovely evening catching up on your posts! Maybe next year I can make it to Calabria or you can come up to Campania…are you busy next June? lol

  8. Cordia Amant
    06.24.2007

    I’ve never really thought of June as the halfway mark for the year. Interesting thought. Maybe I, too, should take stock of how this year has gone so far. Great idea.

  9. Arantxa
    06.24.2007

    Ciao… come vai??? il tempo si che vuola!!! l’anno ha andato…

    grazie per il complimento.. anche sei bellisima all’interno e fuori, per lo che ho letto cerca tu.

    ti ammiro la forma che vedi le cose…
    Mi piace troppo le scritture nel tuo blogger…

    Bacini

    Arantxa

  10. Karen Cole
    06.24.2007

    Never having been much of a writer, I find just blogging to be a great exercise…let alone trying to come up with something beautifully written on my own. I love your thoughts on “June”.

    June is a joyful month for me. My daughter was born, the days are long …I can come home from work, sit and enjoy a glass of wine or beer….outside….see the flowers blowing in the breeze. My allergies have calmed.

    Reguards to Leonardo. Enjoy your writing circle.

  11. sognatrice
    06.24.2007

    Judith, interesting thought. Actually for me, for 13 years, school ended in June. Then for 7 years, school ended in May and full-time work began in June (yuck). Not sure if that should mean I’m glad or sad that June has arrived. I always started school in August, btw, so I think my second wind must hit around Ferragosto 😉

    Rocambeau, actually I’ve never had peaches with white wine–we always did it with red wine, which I wrote about in a meme (in Italian no less!). I did, however, make some jello with fresh peach slices yesterday, so I was probably enjoying that while you had your peaches and wine–and it was another beautiful starry night 🙂

    Kali, schedule’s all clear! Trip report please 🙂

    Cordia, obviously reflection is something we can do at any time, but the halfway mark seems as good as any, doesn’t it? Happy thinking 🙂

    Arantxa, grazie per la visita! Non dico le cose se non sono vere allora mi devi credere–ce l’hai una vita splendida avanti di te. Non vedo l’ora di vedere che cosa farai….

    Karen, thank you for sharing your thoughts on June; a cold beer on a hot night after a satisfying day…ah!!!!! And yes, good point about the allergies!

  12. Wanderlust Scarlett
    06.24.2007

    Sognatrice and Leonardo,

    Wonderful post! Isn’t June wonderful? It is the beginning of summer, and beginnings are the best… so full of possibility.

    I loved your poem, good work.
    So… does this make June the lion days of summer?

    ;o)

    Scarlett & Viaggiatore

  13. heartinsanfrancisco
    06.24.2007

    This is lovely. A great poem.

    My birthday (today) was always either the last half-day of school or the first day of summer vacation, which from that vantage point seemed as if it would go on forever.

    Summer meant chasing after the Good Humor man with a dime clenched tightly in my grubby fingers, rolling down hills which when viewed years later with adult eyes, were mere hillocks at best, interminable games of hide-and-go-seek, catching fireflies in jars with airholes punched in the lids, and harvesting my mother’s flowers to give her as a present.

    Summers are not the same once we grow up, but still, we dream on.

  14. qualcosa di bello
    06.24.2007

    june is… brilliant sunny skies before the hazy dog days, knowing the lots of summer still stretches on the horizon, the sound of kids laughing as they hand crank the icecream maker, juicy strawberries & sweet bursting blueberries that are just picked & sun warm, settling into bed and smelling the sunshine on the line-dried sheets, falling asleep with a sigh of pure contentment as the gentle breeze ripples through the open window, the full moon hanging in a perfect haze, the song of a mockingbird breaching the usual quiet at 2am…

    i love, love, love june!!!

  15. Ninotchka
    06.25.2007

    How funny, I just wrote about this very thing a few weeks ago:

    http://www.bealivebelievebeyou.com/create/2007/06/dialogue_friday.html

    June is a GREAT month of possibility and renewal. I love it. 🙂 And it doesn’t hurt that our sweetheart, Elle, was born in June. That coupled with Father’s Day gives us much to celebrate!

  16. sognatrice
    06.25.2007

    Scarlett, why yes, I believe we should rename June “the lion days of summer.” Leonardo thinks so anyway 😉

    HeartinSF, ah, what lovely memories! And yes, times have changed, but there are always new memories to be made 🙂

    Qualcosa di bello, yes you do love June! Thanks for sharing your thoughts…what I wouldn’t give for some blueberries!

    Nino, I just checked out your post…great minds *do* think alike 🙂

  17. Caroline in Rome
    06.25.2007

    How does June in Rome make me feel? Very hot, for one. Like it is August.

  18. my melange
    06.25.2007

    The end of June makes me feel that much closer to my very momentus birthday…arriving in just a under 2 months now..bittersweet.

  19. Ally Bean
    06.25.2007

    “Where are the answers?”

    That has been the theme of my June this year. Maybe it’s time that I start over and make some mid-year’s resolutions. Deciding to improve myself in the summer makes so much more sense to me than in winter.

  20. goodthomas
    06.25.2007

    June is a month filled with hope for me. Perpetually on the precipice. Eternally optimism, eternal hope. Much more so than April or May. June is the real beginning. The beginning of summer, the true show of sunshine, of “spotted night skies.”

    Loved the poem, Miss Sognatrice.

  21. nyc/caribbean ragazza
    06.25.2007

    Hmm, I was just talking to a friend about this. I do make resolutions and I’m a little freaked out that the year is half-way over.

    Since moving the L.A. June has been the beginning of the summer blahs. I am trying to have a better attitude and am looking forward to being out of town this summer.

    This was a nice post.

  22. Sharon
    06.25.2007

    So how hot is it where you are? It was 118°F today, here in Sicilia! June is a bit crazy this year.

    Sharon

  23. sognatrice
    06.25.2007

    Caroline, yes, this June will definitely go down in my memory as the hottest ever. Let’s hope it’s not replaced by next year!

    My Melange, ooh, birthday coming…mine is in October, so I always start thinking of it in August, and then September just flies by.

    Ally, I agree that summer is better for resolutions–I just more energy, more get-up-and-go, more, I don’t know, inspiration?

    Goodthomas, yes, I’m starting to feel that way myself. Although I have to admit that just about every month so far this year has felt rejuvenating for me…let’s hope the trend continues!

    NYC, I think the move is going to be great for you, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s at the midway point–plenty of time to make good on all those resolutions!

    Sharon, have you seen “Good Morning Vietnam?” I quote:

    “Well, thank you, Roosevelt. What’s the weather like out there?”

    “It’s hot. Damn hot! Real hat! Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking.”

    “Well, can you tell me what it feels like?

    “Fool, it’s hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It’s damn hot! I saw… It’s so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It’s that hot! Do you know what I’m talking about?”

    Yeah, that about sums it up.

  24. kailani
    06.26.2007

    June makes me think of heat! LOL! It’s so hot here during the summer!

  25. sognatrice
    06.26.2007

    Kailani, well for me, *this* June will definitely be remembered for being hot–it is way hotter than it normally is this time of year right now. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

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