Queens of Summerland
Poetry Contest: Summer Songs
we were the queens of Summerland—
all those slow-passing years ago—
with bittersweet saltwater in our veins,
and an insatiable craving in our souls.
running around town with spectral,
rose-thorned crowns atop our heads—
lulled to sleep by the ocean’s waves —
held in safety by the tall grass of
vast—endless—blueberry fields.
she would throw pebbles at my window—
when the strawberry, crescent moon
hung high in the midnight sky—
and we would chase away the darkness
with the midsummer sunrise in our eyes.
waking up in the blanket of morning—
we tucked into the brush—getting flushed,
and intoxicated on saccharine-berried wines,
surrounded by the honeyed midday air.
we danced—hand in hand—around fairy circles,
getting lost amongst the sweltering forest—
finding ourselves in the overwhelming tranquility
of each other’s stickied, lovesick embrace.
our love, that summer, was finite—
only lasting for the season—
prophesied in our bones—
but we held each other’s hearts just the same—
in trembling, gold-stained hands.
the silver-dusted months we shared—
tragically wrapped in sun-soaked magic—
fluttered away from us on the
gossamer wings of a black-hearted fairy.
we were the queens of Summerland—
all those slow-passing years ago,
until our thorned crowns budded to life
with blood-red petaled roses,
and we hung them up to rest
as the August heat quietly bled into
the harrowing September breeze.
Xandra Winters, 2021©️
