Late Summer Luncheon
Editor’s Note: Last fall Marlee Fox, a senior in high school, was mulling over her creative writing assignment. It was a cold, blustery day in Annapolis, Md. where she lives and her thoughts turned to Martha’s Vineyard. For several years now her family has been visiting the Island for two weeks each summer.
She wanted to capture, “that feeling you get in your stomach when it’s summer for the first time,” she said.
Edgartown
Like each sea captain’s home must be surrounded
by the white picket fence of a whale’s jaw full of teeth
over which morning glory vines grow like scrimshaw.
Like the White Cliffs of Dover must be rebuilt to welcome ships,
where houses stand like blocks of marble on Main Street,
and the glass fan window is a pale British Sunrise of sorts.
In Memory of Julia
Like leaves of fall, shells change in shape,
managing their change of fate.
Parts and pieces, seaweed strewn,
parade of beauty, stop to swoon.
Reeds of grass, like tufts of hair,
climbing toward the well-worn stair.
Tidal swim, when moon is full,
arms outstretched to catch the pull.
From piers we leap into the chop,
and beg this summer not stop.
Nine Eleven: 10 Years Later
Heavy skies drop rain
daily in intermittent waves
this old summer cottage
of ours harbors air eddies
demands the wood stove
current-sucking heater coils
extra layers, sweaters, wool
socks; trees wave remnants
of their storm-seared leaves.
Potted foliage sags its greenery
fallen petals stain the porch floor
Irene
No turbines in the Sound yet
wind makes its presence
felt the old-fashioned way
my old Vic of a house
rocks and sways with gusts
blowouts of freed-up energy
Plants take up residence in
the safety of inside next to
hammock, porch chairs and grill
tables fend for themselves
bushes and shrubs wear Wilt-Proof
During the last presidential campaign, the poet Naomi Shihab Nye had the daunting task of introducing Caroline Kennedy at an Obama campaign event in San Antonio, Texas. The honor was made particularly formidable because Ms. Kennedy’s plane had been significantly delayed.