This month’s theme is setting. Today’s prompt is a setting anyone, anywhere, can use because all of us are experiencing August. How can August inspire your writing?
I’ve worked so much on my novel in the past year that I neglected my poetry skills. I decided to write a poem about August in the Buckeye State, inspired by the monthly poems John Updike wrote in A Child’s Calendar, one of my favorite books of poetry. When I think of August, heat, humidity, dusty or hazy afternoons, and the threat of school looming ever closer comes to mind.
August
Summer was worn out its welcome.
The beach is no longer refreshing, just sandy.
The sunshine is no longer warm, just scorching.
Even fireflies have grown bored and disappeared.
But …
At night, a chill steals through the humidity,
Bringing whispers of haunted eves, cosy hearths, and a night of utter wonder.
For more ideas on how August can inspire your writing, click here.
What does August look like where you live?
Excellent, your poem beautifully evokes both the dog days of summer and the wonder to come.
I too have used poetry to shake up my writing process.
Yes! Sometimes, after doing one style of writing, like a novel, for a long time, it helps me to get my mind out of a rut by trying another kind.
Hi!
Your Summer poem inspired me to write about Summer here in Phoenix.
Here goes:
JPC Allen’s clothes dampened in three seconds when she stepped outside on an August morning in Phoenix, Arizona. Trees drooped in the sultry air as it shimmered over the you-could-fry-an-egg sidewalk. When would Monsoon Season end? She guzzled the ice-cold lemonade but it didn’t quench her burning skin as hot liquid dripped off it. Please rain, thunder and lightning, she prayed.
🙂
Nice poem!
Thank you !
JPC: Your poem perfectly describes August.
Thanks so much!