Challenge #1 Sweet Summer Song: Pick a song that represents summer for you. Use the song as the title of your piece, and to inspire either a poem or a short story/micro fiction about summer. Feel free to use some of the song's lyrics in your piece as well. So what does summer feel like for you?
For the main James & Oneg Summer Writing Challenge Extravaganza, click here.
I took inspiration for this poem from my favorite summer song, Heat Waves by Glass Animals. When this song first came out, I was living on the coast with my best friend, enjoying a quintessential New England summer. Whenever I hear it now, I'm transported back to lazy days on the river.
_________
I'm swimming in a mirror, and you're here too.
It's a circle and we're at either end however you twist it -
from the deck to the dock and back, or the other way around,
whichever way the current pulls us.
//
One half is slip-quick: a cold plunge and minnow nibbles,
brackish water in my nose, hair feathered with seaweed.
The other is a pebbled hobble, fake water all across the road ahead
that never materializes to cool our path.
//
Loop the row until the barnacle scrapes or the nail hidden in the riverbed
pokes through your foot. Maybe this is heaven
and we just don't know it yet, because the sun hasn't set, because
I haven't left for school, because the heat wave isn't over.
//
Sometimes, all I think about is you in the river. You, dozing on the dock,
don't want to go back in until the water is high, but I'm only waiting
for slack tide, when the boats hang listless from their mooring,
when we won't have to climb up the ladder to keep swimming.
_________
Looking for the next song on your summer playlist? Go back to the source of this challenge and check out Oneg in the Arctic's take on one of my favorite songs ever, In the Suburbs by Arcade Fire.
About the Creator
Suze Kay
Pastry chef by day, insomniac writer by night.
Catch me here for spooky stories, crushable poems, and overall weird thoughts.
Or, let me catch you on my website!
Reader insights
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Compelling and original writing
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Well-structured & engaging content
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Writing reflected the title & theme
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Comments (2)
I wasn’t familiar with the song, so I had a listen first. Glad I did. The poem fits the song so well. And like songs, your poem seems to be full of personal meaning while leaving room for people to apply it to their experiences. I especially loved “I'm swimming in a mirror, and you're here too.” It sets the scene and the tone in one brief line.
Gosh, I love this so much. I also love Glass Animals, so as soon as I saw this title, I started singing it in my head. I love the way you weaved the title into the poem so effortlessly. I love how sensory this poem is, I can feel the different aspects of the water, the seaweed in the hair, the unwanted injuries, the warm air on the character's skin, etc. Really awesome