This summer, I will

This summer, I will
make the most of
the sun shining on me,
the blinding green 
of the woods
outside my window,
and the cool water
of the lake
near my house.

This summer, I will
make the most of
where I will be going:
a magical land
I am returning to,
but really,
it feels like I never left.

This summer, I will
see my friends,
discovering new things about them
you learn when you are not in school.

This summer, I will
breathe last year out,
inhale, exhale.
It was a good year.
I learned to be myself
(and who that really was.)
But now,
I am ready for a new year,
new experiences.

More than that, though,
I am ready to see the sun dance along the porch,
the leaves swaying in the trees,
to know that I have three months ahead of me,
before I choose electives,
compare schedules with my friends,
buy school supplies at Staples,
ride the bus to my second year of middle school.

Three months
where I don't have to be anything
at all.

This summer, I will
just 
be.

[Opposite page photo by Molly Silvia, "Bike Wheel;" Cover art by laurenm, "It Was All Yellow"]