"Seed Of Summer" by Alessio Zanelli, Frequent Contributor & Poet of the Week

Seed Of Summer

Alessio Zanelli 

Exploring the hills,

striving to clear a passage

through scrubs and clumps of nettles.

Dog rose and bramble trying

to either tangle me or sting me off.

Seeking shelter from the sun

on long-unmaintained footpaths

up the steepest slopes.

Heartbeat-revved, 

suddenly still to recover breath,

leant on a chestnut tree

in the ancient wood of the Valley of Silence.

Even in the thickest shade

the soil looks just short of dry.

Seed of summer’s fallen

deep into the ground,

taken solid root,

risen up then sprouted forth.

The wyvern’s ready on the loose,

chasing clouds away

to distant mountain ranges

north of the Asiago Plateau.

Poet’s Notes:  This one is a simple, descriptive poem written after a long walk in the hills south of Vicenza in northern Italy, where I found myself nearly lost and during which I could perceive the first glimmerings of the forthcoming summer, often so hot, over the Pianura Padana--the broad floodplain of River Po.