Summer's Lament / Unearthed
Summer's Lament
On a hot day in late June,
the skies opened.
The heavens flooded down,
pelting parched grass.
Drops sizzle
into steam
on the driveway and
I can't help feeling sorry for them.
What a long way
to fall
to travel
to earth,
to touch down on solid ground.
Only to find yourself,
back as the version of you
You worked so hard to unbecome,
turned around at customs.
Sent back home.
Despair rises in my throat
as I burst out the screen door
and down onto the black top,
letting the rain soak my clothes,
saturate my hair.
I find myself hoping that the pounding
of my feet against the pavement
might be punishment enough
to make it rethink its cruelty.
Kneeling on the line where inorganic stone
meets grass and clover,
I watch my hands
reach of their own accord
for a large, flat rock in the lawn.
They turn it over,
and the sight below is honey,
soothing my despair-burnt throat.
The ground underneath is damp.
Nay, soaked,
and a worm
slithers away
into the soil.
Unearthed
Mary Higgins Rokosz
Acrylic
- Frankie Kerwood
About the Creators
Frankie Kerwood
Frankie Kerwood is an artist and Ipswich native. She began her artistic work as a dancer during school, and after graduating began to experiment with mixed media sculpture, and to dabble in poetry. She is thrilled to be a returning contributor to Verse/Visual this year.
Mary Higgins Rokosz
Mary Higgins Rokosz has been fascinated with watercolor from a very young age and took her first watercolor class at the age of eight. She earned a BA in Graphic Design and worked as a graphic designer in Connecticut before moving to Merrimac, MA, where she started a small greeting card company and facilitated many art programs for young children. She still resides in Merrimac with her husband, two grown daughters, and her Old English Sheepdog. She draws inspiration for her paintings from nature—particularly flowers and foliage. In the words of Claude Monet: "I must have flowers, always, and always!" Mary currently holds memberships with the Haverhill, Newburyport, and Ipswich Art Associations.