Visions of Summer is an on-going project for University of Oregon students, faculty, and staff to share their experiences and memories of summer through retrospectives, poetry, photo essays, and a variety of other formats. Have something you want to say about the rare sunny season? Let us know!
Poem and photo by Carolyne Snipes
A red glow stains your cheeks
Your heart steadily thumping rhythmically to summer tunes
Your body once sheathed in layers of clothes now comes out of hibernation
The glow of your pasty white skin glistens against the sun
People, like rabbits resurfacing from their holes, peak out from their shelters
Uncovered legs and chests bare themselves and beg for Vitamin D
Begging for each moment of sunshine to last longer than the last
The beams penetrating your skin and pulsing through your veins
Your whole body becomes illuminated with the summer glow
Everyday filled with pleasurable nothingness
Waking up late and smiling at the success of it
After what feels like 300 days of rain, even a day of summer sun is a golden reward
Small drops of sweat as refreshing as a dip in the cool abyss of the Willamette
Taking it slow
Letting everything just flow
Feeling consumed by what you do and don’t know
Effervescence bubbling up inside of your heart
Wanting to start each day with the hope of a new discovery
I feel you summer
You have set me free
My time no longer constrained by where I am expected to be
Nine months spent dreaming of your solitude
And something always brings me back to you
Your warm touch and gentle glow
And the way you bring out the honest and true happiness in everyone
Summer, this is a love story
One you create with all you encounter
We crave you and embrace each ray of your yellow energy
Oregonians can deny it and crave the rain
But every day without sun is spent in vain
Waking up to the silent but honest blue sky
Hoping to be held captive by the overwhelming happiness
If we had you all the time, would we appreciate you as much?
It’s likely that you luster would be dimmed
Forgotten like the trimmed grass on the sidewalk
And the last words spoken on a sweet Summer’s Day
