“Summer at Twenty-One” by Eva M. Schlesinger
I loved the air before dusk
Still warm, no longer hot
I lay in the front porch hammock,
the crickets singing with glee
kids playing ball on our dead end Merry Street
I lay watching the sky
change from light blue to stardust to purple
writing in a little notebook
my grandmother gave me
I wrote about the moment I was in
I had sunk my teeth in
like a delicious apple
with juice running down my cheeks
No one bothered me on the porch
They said hi as they passed by or climbed the stairs to go in
Abby, who screamed at her parents
Lizz, in construction, who earned ten dollars an hour
I was in awe of those ten dollars,
but I didn’t want to work behind a jackhammer
or wear thick brown pants and work boots on humid days
I didn’t think much about the future,
around the corner from me
I felt the braided web of hammock
smelled the air cooled off in the dusk,
heard the crickets singing their chorus over and over
and I was happy to let each moment come to me
the way the stars burst,
sparkling,
one at a time
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Eva M. Schlesinger Artist Statement:
Eva Schlesinger likes to socialize with friends in person and not on social media. She
prefers things that are old, does not have a cell phone, and likes to write letters with paper
and pen, and lots of stickers. When not writing, she reads voraciously, draws wildly
colorful, whimsical animals, and improvises daily on several musical instruments. Her
blog (notesfromthecupcakerescueleague.wordpress.com) has a small, but loyal following.
