In the grass

And an August poem

John Singer Sargent, Two Girls on a Lawn, 1889

In the Grass

	After Two Girls on a Lawn 
         by John Singer Sargent

Two girls on a lawn so soft
the one in black sleeps
her head cradled in her bent arm
The other in a ruffled white dress
props herself up on her elbow 
rests her head on her hand

As a girl I’d lie in the grass 
study the clouds    Or swinging
bend back over the seat 
turn the world upside down
inhaling the sharp scent of 
freshly mown grass   

Years ago I told my brother 
as we drove through hills of tall 
grasses that I always dreamed of 
running barefoot through the grass 
toward someone and he replied 
on the verge of divorce 
cockleburs hurt

Two girls on a lawn napping
a study of white and green and black
not of grass and its stickers 
how even through fabric it scratches

---

This post was inspired by

Nelly Bryce

and her summertime poetry prompts at

Poetry Pals

for this past week. The prompt was to write about lying on the grass. I confess I wrote this poem several years ago,¹ but it seemed like the perfect poem for the prompt and I edited it a bit. I still remember that drive from the Bay Area to Bolinas for my cousin’s wedding when my oldest brother suggested that running through the grass had its downsides. When I saw this painting twenty-years later, I remembered that drive and our conversation and it all came together. Sometimes that’s how poetry works.

I’ve had a few poems published lately, which I will share here in the coming weeks. One is a summer poem from my forthcoming book, Gathering the Pieces of Days, from

Unsolicited Press

. I posted it as a note but here it is for subscribers. You can find it at Red Wolf Leaflets.

One of the Substacks I read is

Shy Guy Meets the Buddha

. This past week he included a wonderful quote from Eckhart Tolle, “I have lived with several Zen masters—all of them cats.”

Don Boivin

writes about mindfulness in a totally accessible way. this is one of my favorites.

If You're In the Shower, Be in the Shower

Thank you so much for reading. It means the world to me.

1. “In the Grass” was first published in Eclectica, Oct/Nov 2017, and later in The Ekphrastic Review, July 20, 2023.