From my poetry collection, I lost summer somewhere.
I hid behind the spirea bushes over there, by the steps,
chewed the bitter leaves, watched old Grandma Yonkers
in her lace up shoes and cotton hose mince slow,
slow, with her squeak-wheeled shopping cart,
an hour to the store and back. She never saw me,
or at least she didn’t say. The house is run down now.
Probably was then too, but kids don’t notice shabby
when it’s theirs. Screens are rusty, porch sags,
sidewalk buckled higher from the oak. Dad said
it should come out, but it’s outlived him and will outlive
me as well. Its acorn caps made high-pitched squeals
between my thumbs I crooked just so. We’d rake
its leather leaves in piles at the curb, light fires in the twilight,
watch embers spit into the blueblack dusk,
the scent of autumn in my hair.
Sarah Russell
First published in I lost summer somewhere
Photo Source
Sarah Russell Poetry 
love this one Sarah
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Thanks, Steve. I know it’s the one my childhood friends will recognize.
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Beautiful, Sarah 🙂
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Thank you, Ryan!
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this really is oozing with a detailed imagery, I can just see it now…
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Thanks, Beth. It was a paper mill town. One that invited escape. But it was home.
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Love this, Sarah!
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Thanks, Marc!
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Such exquisite imagery in this one, Sarah!
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Thank you Sanaa.
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The tree that outlives us all. I love the scent of autumn in your hair!
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I think that’s one of my favorite memories of growing up — the smell of burning leaves. It’s a pity we can’t do that anymore.
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Lovely images!
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Thank you. Namratha!
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This is lovely, I love the portrait you paint with your words❣️💕
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Thank you, Ellecee! Love the spelling of your name.
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Oh, I love this, Sarah! You made Grandma Yonkers so real, with her ‘lace up shoes and cotton hose mince’ – I could even hear the squeaky shopping cart! You’ve also conveyed the time and place so vividly I felt I was there, ‘the scent of autumn in my hair’.
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Thanks so much, Kim. Those childhood memories are so strong.
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Your visuals really place me there. Beautiful I lived in broken down, paper glued together. I mostly lived outdoors.
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Thanks, Susie. Yup, every time I see asphalt shingles, it reminds me of home.
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Love it and not just because its Catherine Street. Got your book today, so excited!
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Thanks, Catherine. Let me know what you think.
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A wonderful recreation.
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Thanks so much, Rosemary.
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I love the pictures you’ve painted, and the scents too.That last sentence had me closing my eyes, thinking autumn breeze.
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Thanks, Magaly. My favorite time of year.
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Who has time to notice shabby when there are twilight leaf fires to look at? The kids have the right idea.
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Absolutely right, Kestril! Thanks for stopping by.
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