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Friday, June 05, 2009

Poetry Friday -- Change of Seasons


BED IN SUMMER
by Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?



We're not quite to the summer solstice, but that change of seasons between the end of the school year and the beginning of summer break is here, and it has the same powerful and elemental feeling to a person who has not been on any other calendar since before she was 6 years old.

I started taking pictures out my classroom window last winter when I started Project 365 on Flickr. It was a challenge to get enough pictures in the early months because I drove to school in the dark and drove home in the dark. Now there's an abundance of light at both ends of my day, just like in the poem. 

Happy Summer to you, whether that simply means a change of the natural seasons, or a change from school to not-school!

Sara Lewis Holmes has the round up today at Read Write Believe.

8 comments:

  1. Going to bed when it's light out is just cruel. So is getting up in darkness!

    That's a remarkably textured and beautiful photo of your window. Something about it calls to me.

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  2. Love the photos. What a difference a season makes :). RLS is always comforting and a pleasure to revisit. Thanks!

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  3. Such a nice reflection.
    I need to force myself to get into summer mode. Do I ever really get there? I'm not sure.

    Your post will help.
    Thanks

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  4. Anonymous11:23 AM

    The beauty of school letting out is everyone is allowed to stay up 'til dark!

    I LOVE that photo...

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  5. One of my very favorites.

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  6. Oh...this takes my breath away...a combination of beautiful photographs and poetry...Thank you for such a wonderful reflection!

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  7. Anonymous8:54 PM

    Happy summer to you, too - it's not official, but it's definitely here!

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  8. Anonymous4:18 AM

    Ahhh...the poem made me feel like a little kid in the summer begging not to go to have to go to bed quite yet. I love the photograph. Stunning.

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