Summer has no backup plan

Winter clings to Adelaide,
a betrayed lover taking revenge.
Big rain tears flood rivers and canals,
demonic winds trample over spring,
bolster the sky with fat grey clouds.
Not a morsel for the seagulls battling
the wind on blizzard beaches bereft
of joggers and children at play.

A day or two of electric-blue sky
taunts summer dreams hungry for sun
and coconut oil.
Has a shifting of season derailed summer?
A monstrous ocean swallowed the sun?

While others hibernate in warm beds
I hunger for the smell of cut lawn,
the pungency of mulch in garden beds,
the crunch of dry earth underfoot,
the colour code of summer dresses,
the honeyeater hanging upside-down
after bean weevils and nectar,
summer bodies drenched in sweat.

I will ride my horse to Armidale
where spring blossoms defy the cold
and pulling out weeds is easy!
There I will walk in the soft sun.

Martha Landman lives in Adelaide after 15 years in north Queensland. Her work has appeared in online journals and anthologies in the UK, US and Australia. She is a member of Friendly Street Poets and has previously contributed to Poets Corner.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.