Summer Nights

The haze of heat, it rests upon the surface of my skin -
It saturates the air, and with each breath, I breath it in.
The neighborhood is quiet, free of noise from dogs or cars -
Our street lies black and melting, while the sprinklers mist the yards.

There is a dripping glass, upon the table to my right -
It holds the icy remnants of my drink of choice tonight.
The house is lit behind my back, for when I go inside -
For now, I wait here on this porch, with heart laid open wide.

- - -

I count up all the fireflies, I trace the course of three -
The twilight casts illusions, and my eyes must squint to see.
I wonder where they're going, and I wish that they would stay -
But that's what makes them loveliest... they glow, and fly away.

- - -

These summer nights so still and slow, and full with things undone -
They disappear behind the trees, they press on towards the sun.
The sights and sounds of memories past, they glimmer on the lawn -
my mind removes to far off place, to time and moments gone.

It lingers there, then with a sigh, it catches up again -
To this present, fleeting moment, made of haze and heat and wind.
My hand, it reaches toward my glass - my mind, it comes around.
My heart, it beats a symphony - a prayer, free of sound.

- - -

He counts them and He numbers them - like fireflies are my days -
Yet that's what makes them loveliest... they glow, and fly away.
When twilights casts illusions, and my eyes must squint to see -
I sit outside and wonder, what He sees when watching me.

- - -

This life I have been offered, full of purpose and of play -
Like a firefly that flickers bright, that glows and flies away.
Where haze and heat and sprinklers meet, this heart it wonders why...
The light seems at its loveliest, when begins the darkened sky.

The neighborhood is quiet, free of noise from dogs or cars -
Our street lies black and melting, while the sprinklers mist the yards.
These summer nights so still and slow, and full with things undone -
They disappear behind the trees, they press on towards the sun.


(June 15, 2015)

Such is the state of things, here in Tennessee... and such is the state of things within me.

This Summer is a treasure. As each day passes, I'm aware that the (quickly approaching) arrival of my son or daughter will soon change summer-times into something beautiful, and new. I'm also aware that my evenings will most likely no longer be as quiet as they are now - at least, for several years. Instead, they'll be full of a different kind of quiet - a peace, a satisfaction, a sigh of relief as a dream lives itself out and proves itself true.

Next Summer our nights will most likely be a steady fluttering of buzzing happiness... diaper changes, night-time routines, baby giggles, physical exhaustion, sticky surfaces, bath-times, and soothing the tired and weary. It will be bliss. It will be difficult. It will be right, and holy, and ours.

But it isn't ours quite yet... so I do my best to capture and cherish evenings like tonight. Every little thing that right now seems so small - yet is precious, and fleeting. The moments, like fireflies, that glow and fade away. I am grateful to a God who placed eternity on our hearts... that we would have the capacity to look backward, forward, into our hearts, and into His own - and understand how to process it all, within the safety and the context of His promises for us.

Tim and I continue working at jobs we love. We continue getting more involved at our church, and reaching out to old and new friends alike. Calendar boxes are the moving target we try to hit and plan with accuracy and skill... sometimes, we get it right - and sometimes, we get it wrong and let days slip away. But each day is new, and God's mercies carry us. We are growing, I am growing, the baby inside me is growing...

And life is as sweet, slow, and full as a summer night.