Summer was marked out
In the red curve of watermelon slices,
Dripping water pearls from a tiered rack.
That russet-tinted after-season, autumn,
Blew in with the leaves, moist and cool:
By late afternoon, the pavements blushed.
Coiled in the sweet Christmas smell
Of ember-warm, shell-cracking chestnuts,
Lay winter, in rough newspaper cones.
As the air quickened and buds thickened
Spring slipped in, like a half-smile,
And the watermelons grew plump.
[First published in Vox Galvia, Galway Advertiser, 20 November 2020]
Denise O’Hagan is a Sydney-based editor and poet, born in Italy, and former poetry editor with The Blue Nib. Her poetry collection Anamnesis (Recent Work Press 2022) was a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Award (USA) and shortlisted in the Rubery Book Award (UK). Website: https://denise-ohagan.com