SUMMER Poem: A Melancholic Haunting, by Kelsey Flaherty

You in your green dress,
the one that perfectly matched your eyes.
How it fell away from your shoulders,
exposing the gentle rise and fall of your spine.

When I close my eyes I’m in that old cabin.
I can smell the sweet pine and honeysuckle,
musky sheets and lake drenched towels.

The breeze from the open windows, always made its way to you-
to dance freely within your hair,
like some kind of magic.

Sweat trickling down your face,
hugging your dimpled cheek before rejoining the earth.
When I dream it takes me back to that melancholic place.

To the days of long,
belly-deep exhales.
Sunrise to sunset,
with you,
I was home.