Great start, my poetic partners! “Summer Breeze” was an easy listening piece of music to set the mood for a relaxing summer!
Today being Saturday, it calls to mind heading to the theater to catch a movie or to those who remember them, the weekly Adventure series also known as Serials. A great day to spend the afternoon. We’re not concerned with Netflix or those online computer sites. We’re seeing a show! Every Saturday for the month of July will feature the title of a summer movie!
Today’s feature:
“Smiles of a Summer Night”
Smiles of a Summer Night (Swedish: Sommarnattens leende) is a 1955 Swedish comedy film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was the first of Bergman’s films to bring the director international success, due to its exposure at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.[1] In 2005 TIME magazine ranked it one of the 100 greatest films since 1923.[2]
The film’s plot—which involves the misadventures of some couples on a summer night—has been adapted many times, most notably as the theatrical musical A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler and Harold Prince, which opened on Broadway in 1973, and as Woody Allen‘s film A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982).
| Starring | Ulla Jacobsson Eva Dahlbeck Harriet Andersson Margit Carlqvist Gunnar Björnstrand Bibi Andersson |
|---|
Ahem! Yes, well so…
All we need is a poem about something summery that brings a smile to your face. Or it could incorporate a summer night as the theme. I know you’ll find something of which to write!
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Responses
SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT
I walk the shoreline.
Evening has lowered her veil
showing her soft features
and endearing charms.
Darkness swept the horizon
as if her arms had become heavy
and fell slowly to her side.
I would slide my hand into hers
if she would allow it and we’d steal
soft whispers and tender kisses,
a bliss unknown to us so far.
And as the stars found their spaces,
our faces would be graced by
a glow so bright it could be seen
for miles; smiles of a summer night!
© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2016
so many wonderful lines in this! Two top-choices for me; ‘Evening has lowered its veil’ and ‘as the stars found their spaces’.
Thanks, Janet!A beautiful summer night is like a seductress! It brings me to be seduced by her magnificence.
I know what you mean…I’ve often said its a shame we need to sleep at all and miss a whole other world of beauty!
So sweetly romantic! I agree with Janet in her two fave lines, poetically. But this? “I would slide my hand into hers, if she would allow it.” This says so much … speaking to the very beginnings of love and attraction. *sigh*
So many sighs, for so many rhymes! I’ll write STILL more.
Yes, please. 🙂
I love the personification of evening here, Walt. Just wonderful. This is soft as sand.
Soft as sand? And they call me poetic? Thanks De.
I like the personification of evening and how it segues into flesh-and-blood love. You are good, Walt. Really good!
I’m with those who are into the personification of evening … “soft features and endearing charms” all. And I agree – a summer night is like seductress … in so many ways.
Thanks Sharon!
I only reflect the brilliance around me Sal! But I thank you profoundly!
So gently romantic. This poem is so good, Walt, and it speaks to me…
The lovely personification of evening makes for a unique insight into that special time of day. Smiling comes easy.
Just a Bit of It
I’d be standing
at the kitchen sink.
Maybe looking out the window
at the blue pots
at the rubied-red geraniums,
and he’d come up behind me.
Like a breeze.
Surprise me like a gust of wind.
And I’d smile. Just a bit.
To myself.
〰️
©️ Misky 2016
does it get any better than this?! I don’t think so.
Delighted you liked it. xx
There is a beauty in this glimpse of love. And very cute! I love the simplicity of this Marilyn! Agree with Janet. It doesn’t get any better!
Thank you, Walt. I had fun with this one!
Oh yes! GREAT capture, Misk. I agree with Janet and Walt!
Thank you so much! 😄
I read your poems and always seem to walk away with deep sighs of appreciation that in this age of novels and films poets still bless us with their work.
I am always so encouraged and inspired by your kind comments. Thank you so very much.
Mmmmm. I love this, Misky. Hot hubby and I just spent almost a whole handful of days, just the two of us, home alone while the kids were at camp. Heaven.
And yet it’s heaven when the kids are back home, too. xx
I have teens. So sometimes Heaven, sometimes notsomuch. 😉
I can picture this so clearly, Misk. Sigh.
If anyone’s interested, J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan, The Admirable Crichton) wrote a midsummer play: Dear Brutus. It has a country house party, mysterious host, and a forest to be warned about (and get lost in).
Thanks for this Barbara! I’d be interested in checking that out. What kind of a “Lost Boy” would I be if I didn’t?
I was in a Summer Theater production of it in college (three plays in six weeks). Played the old lady. All the things we didn’t know in ‘68…
Summer Night Smile-song
Sultry breeze spirals then settles at dusk
Hummingbird whirs where each bloom is a cup
Afternoon washes bare feet then recedes
Blue, like a tide on summer’s sky-wide sea
Sun-drenched day softens, horizons subside
Noon was a young man with dreams in his stride
Time slows its gait now, forgets its demands
Undresses wishes with whisper-like hands
Noise on the highway is muffled with dark
Boys and girls slumber, somewhere a dog barks
Moon is a skiff set a-drift all alone
Stars splay like broken glass caught in the sun
Jasmine and clover perfume heaven’s wand
Salt-flavored wind-skin-heart-sea-song are one
Temptation is a word too young for us
Darling, the night is blurred with dew and dust
Touch is a servant to thought’s hungry eyes
We’ve known each other too long for surprise
Summer breeze murmurs in raven-leafed trees
Earth is half-heaven on midnights like these
© Janet Martin
This is wonderful. All told in poetic nuance, you’ve painted a summer night with great vision! You made me smile! Thanks, Janet!
Oh Janet … the beauty and feel of this leaves me speechless. You are truly a poet’s poet, lovely lady. Wow …
Re-reading, and will come back for more of this many times, I’m sure. Far too many breath-taking phrases…
This is sensual, sultry…and delicious. Love love LOVE this:
“Salt-flavored wind-skin-heart-sea-song are one”
Oh, my.
This speaks to the passion inherent in long-lived love … “touch is a servant to thought’s hungry eyes” (what an incredibly sensual line) and is handled so deftly, I am in awe. Nicely done, Janet.
Thank-you all for reading and for your kind words:)
THAT POT OF SUMMER GOLD
Summer afternoons we walked down Graham
past Montrose where the Rainbow marquee
lured us kids like hummingbird moths to flames
of vibrant reds in blooming gardens.
Anna held our hands as we crossed streets,
reminding us to behave ourselves.
I was only eight; Joanie was six;
Anna, a grand old thirteen, paid coins
to the ticket booth lady who raved
about the current matinee films
as if to justify admission,
the weekly allowance we had saved.
“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,”
she said. “you’ll laugh your little heads off!”
On summer Saturdays, nostalgia
wafts me back through the locked-away years
and I fill my head with movie-house
memories: the theater scent, the laughter,
the cartoons, newsreels, coming attractions
luring us back each week, the serials
that left us hanging over the edge
of our seats, the company of my sisters.
One summer I went back to Brooklyn
and took a walk down Graham past Montrose
for one more visit to the Rainbow Theatre.
All my friends had long since moved away:
Accardi, Cohen, Murray, Cimino.
And the Rainbow was gone! In its place
an Evangelical church, years later
demolished and apartment buildings
erected in its place. I can still hear
Anna say, “Sit quiet and watch the movie.”
#
Oh Salvatore! You made my heart flutter! What a grand memory and perfect presentation of same! Your reminiscence reads like a novel you can’t put down! You sir, make me glad to have turned to poetry and be in your “presence”!
Hear, hear. And here, here in this place, I get to rub noses with the best of the best. So humbling. So enriching. Leaves me utterly speechless.
This poem to me was like watching an old picture show. Stunning in its imagery and sound! thank-you.
Your poem inspired pieces from my country-girl childhood where I had never heard of Saturday at the movies or orchestras etc. in a home with no tv or radio:)
The Entertainment World of a Country Girl
The great outdoors
Was the only orchestra she ever heard
Half-shut eyes ‘neath cloud-fluffed skies
Held picture shows thought-blurred
Singers were boys and girls best-dressed
Four-part harmony cool
In Christmas carols to moms and dads
At a concert in a two-room school
And entertainment was a shallow brook
Where minnows and tad-poles played
She traveled the world in story books
On a barge of willow-shade
Sometimes she would sit past the barn on a hill
Watch the highway that held campers and cars
And she wondered where all ‘those people’ go
Then she would lie back and count stars
Freedom was free as the wind that blew
Through the only world she knew
Of field and firth, heaven on earth
On a stage grass-green, sky-blue
The simple life always provided an entertainment that in many ways surpassed the modes today. Because it was communal, it involved family and friends and our imaginations. Technology did us no favors in that regard. Beautifully inspired, Janet!
agreed. for all the favors technology provides(like this meeting place:) I think it has robbed us of some precious, crucial face to face relationships, something that in our childhood we never gave a second thought!
Thank-you Walt.
Janet, you pump so much life into these images, it makes me want to run outside and commune with grass and flower, free as a summer bird!
🙂 thank-you Sal.
What a gorgeous, gorgeous slice of memory here, Sir. I love those “movie-house
memories,” especially.
Indeed, Sal, I agree with Walt – the nostalgia that weaves through this poem is palpable, made me long to step back in time.
Summer Sense
Seeing lightning bugs blinking in the night
Smelling woodiness of a crackling campfire
Tasting sweet, biting burnt black marshmallows
Hearing friendly voices sing, “The Cat Came Back.”
Touching cool luxurious moss with hot bare toes
Feeling warmth, smiles, and sunshine in inner soul
Superb, Connie! All summer smile inducers! This has a simple, playful feel. I know it’s a great “smile” poem because I got a big grin going while reading it! Well done!
I agree with Walt.
Sweet glimpses! Luvin’ this!
This poem can sing because you’ve selected the best choices of words.
Wonderful, Connie. I crave all of these things, long before summer begins. :0)
Delightful, Connie – and so evocative.
SUMMER SMILES, NILES OHIO
Sunny day of summer play with friends
Ends.
Night falls.
Streetlights call me home.
Bathed and pj’d,
Porch swing lulls, but cannot dull
The day’s fun,
Spun of love.
Mom smiles;
Files away another day.
We pray and say goodnight.
Sleep tight.
Sweet dreams.
Even the moon beams.
© Marie Elena Good 2016
m-m-m-m-m! m-m-m-m!! A mix of Andy Griffith and The Waltons!
Each line a tender picture…
I love when you take us back to Niles! It’s like “Lake Wobegone Lite”! Love this, Pard!
When a poet can compose lines in the constraint of brevity and not be constrained by it, she merits highest praise.
Wow. Wow. THANK YOU, Sal. You just totally made my day.
Oh, Marie. That last line is quite simply brilliant. Seriously. Perfection, especially for this prompt.
Thank you so much! The title and final line came to me first, and I built the poem around them. That often happens for me.
“Even the moon beams” – Marie Elena! This poem just sings! Wonderful writing.
Hi Sharon! Thank you so much!
This poem makes me beam too… “Files away another day” – beautiful!
Thank you so much!
sun specks sparkle
in sapphire eyes:
your summer smile
~ Nurit Israeli
YES, Nurit! Short and sweet and very satisfying!
Lovely take on the prompt, Nurit! Warm smiles to you. 😉
The repetition of the S sound works quite well here!
Sibilant beauty here, Nurit. Like a lullaby.
Succinct and perfect, Nurit.
so much said in so little! I love it.
Fireworks
as dusk pulls open the
dark curtain of
a summer night
flashes of light rise up
from the grassy stage
signaling messages of love
in the stillness while
stars twinkle brightly
in perfect accompaniment
from my front row seat
I clap with joy, watching
this magical light show
put on by
Heaven & Earth Productions
This sparkles with Oohs and Aahs all its own, Candy. A brilliant snapshot of that summer ritual!
How fun! Oh the memories, eh? Thanks for taking us with you, Candy!
A cleverly good poem! I love that last line!
Gorgeous! I can see it, and what a show it is.
Cute. Nicely penned, Candy.
wonderful. that last line is brilliant!
Thanks 🙂
Summer’s Sweetness
Haystack romance is prickly; starlight sex,
lousy with mosquitos. The South plays
rough with sweet fantasies, delicate
and tender dreams. Humidity is hard
on romance and candied violets. Meringues
sweat and pink spun sugar weeps.
It’s difficult for me to want a bright eternity.
Heavenly is dappled, shot with sprinkler prisms,
clinks with melting ice. Sweet is a deep porch,
cool as a cave with a bottomless lake. Togetherness:
ephemeral, though long as all summer’s afternoons.
Quite expressive, Barbara! I love your circuitous thought process (but you already know that!) I like this a lot, Lady!
Often poets provide description that appeal to the eye, but your poem appeals to sound and touch and smell. Well done, Barbara.
Yes. Barbara, you are another whose work I believe I would recognize anywhere. So thankful I get to enjoy you here!
b, this has your trademark edge to it. Sweet, and sharp. And deeply, deeply satisfying.
I love the imagery in this Barbara – can almost feel the sweetness with the back and forth sticky and sweat, cool and not.
Summer Lovin’
teenage memories
summer loves
sun-kissed, hot…and gone
As quick as a flash in the pan, eh Rob? Great quick quip!
Seems like every summer was a new romance that only lasted until school started again. The thought sprang from Grease, though, which ended up as more than a summer love.
Ah, that old young-love here-today-gone-tomorrow romance! You tell it well in only thirteen syllables.
yes. incredible!
Yes, this says much about teenage summer love, I think. Well done.
Phew! Yep.
I Remember Summer
It was a great time to be alive
A time for adventures
A time for excitement
A time for living it up
A great time to be alive
From the last day of my spring
To the first day of my fall
My summer was a time to remember
And I remember it well
I think now that fall has arrived
I will write my summer memories
Before they fade in the winds of time
Before winter sets in
Oh, for summertime again
(c) Earl Parsons
A wonder wisp of wistful memory with a touch of melancholia, Earl! You do write that memoir and we’ll line up for our copy! Thank you for this, Sir!
The reader can see your sincerity that rings out in every line. Great!
I read this as a metaphor for life, Earl, not just the yearly seasons. Just wonderful.
Hear, hear! Absolutely. Well done, Earl.
And you read it correctly. Thanks.
I’m with De – I read it more as a life metaphor than just a seasonal one … in any event, it rings true and authentic … all of it.
to everything a time and a season, but oh, this season is always full of great memories! Really enjoyed this, Earl.
Bright sun and white sand
The sound of the waves draw me
Crap!! Where’s my sunscreen!?
And your wit and humor do not escape us either, Earl… 😀
Ha! 😉
You been reading my mail, Earl? This might have been something I’d write. Good one.
its way back at your car parked a mile away!!:)
HA!! 😀
[…] Prompt: Smiles of a Summer Night […]
Okauchee Summers
It was a small town, just a village,
not even incorporated,
but it had elm trees and lilacs, a big lake,
and back then,
the homes weren’t yet outdated.
We were poor, but it was all of us,
so we didn’t know it.
Everyone had gardens, fished and hunted,
wasted nothing that cost nothing,
shared their bounty, their friendship,
and neighborliness, they showed it.
Daytime fun was free, mostly in the lake,
but there was also tag and war and hide-and-seek,
and man oh man, the noise we’d make.
Neighboring farms had silos of corn and piles of hay,
and you don’t know kids if you think
we couldn’t turn that into play.
Nights were for crabbing, and fires and more,
on holidays, sparklers, marshmallows,
y’know, non-chocolate s’mores.
But the best parts of the nights were reserved for the skies,
the stars and Milky Way, the awesome fireflies.
We’re blessed with more bounty now,
perhaps more reasons to smile,
yet, if I could go back….(oh, just for awhile).
Daniel, great memories make tender and heartfelt poems! You nailed this one, Brother!
Such a gorgeous edge of longing to this, Mr. Pai. Love it.
‘We were poor, but it was all of us,
so we didn’t know it.’ What a line!!
This took me back to my childhood. thank-you.
What a great narrative poem … I love how you worked so much in but it never feels crowded or overdone … made me feel like this is a place I wish I was from.
“We were poor, but it was all of us, so we didn’t know it.” This alone captures so very, very much. “But the best parts of the nights were reserved for the skies” … visual and emotive all at once. Beautiful, heart-peace piece. Love this. Love you.
Behind Pastel Doors
Rental house, maze of rooms.
Boys upstate in Woodstock, fumes
of incense, patchouli, and musk.
An Adirondack Trailways bus
bore a group of city girls
caught up in a heady swirl
of summer freedom. Three hour
trip though hot, did not sour
their elation or plans of which boy’s
company they would want to enjoy
on their summer weekend of bliss.
Monday morning at work, they’d reminisce.
I so enjoy rhyme when it works…like this one…lovely
Ah Sara! This is a sweetly done memory as well! It tells such a story in this mighty little verse, CH2!
Your rhyme works well here, ma’am. I do have to say, that while I might once have read this as a carefree fellow youth, today it comes to me as the mama of a 13-year-old, growing up too fast. In that light, it has a dark edge – one that works well, regardless.
I get it, De. Many years have gone by since that summer!
ha! ha! we were all the same…they would rattle off what the event included but always missed the main attraction…were there any boys?!! …ad what fun those ‘afterward’ conversations were;-)
Great use of rhyme – slant and otherwise to evoke some universal truths and memories here … ah yes, those summer boys.
You’ve captured a “moment,” an “era,” and an “age” in so few words, and with absolute perfection, Sara. AMAZING write!
SUMMER NIGHT AT CROW LAKE, AND THE MEADOW
Just recalling that night makes my breath quicken
my heart pound, even now
I see the two of us strolling the lake road leisurely
Headed for the farmer’s meadow, unlatching the gate,
stopping to kiss in the golden glow of a slow setting sun.
How is it I can’t remember what I had for dinner, but
can feel your lips scorching mine so clearly back then?
Did we know when we started off that it would be
that night?
I can still see your eyes watching mine as we lay down
in the long grass
So serious, a tenderness there, I knew I could trust
And your every touch both a question and a match
setting me aflame
You were amazing, I remember thinking – wondering
how it was possible you knew how to do
what you did, so carefully, so patiently,
so, so … skillfully.
I thought if you stopped, I might die.
Dusk was full on us and stars pierced
the night sky by the time we lay back
To hold each other in gentleness and love;
we were embarking on eternity even then.
Such a brilliant choice of verb here, Sharon:
“can feel your lips scorching mine”
I can feel this. Whew.
You craft such beautiful scenes, Sharon. Tender and heartfelt!
we were embarking on eternity even then…perfect climax!
Sharon, I love the mixture of intensity and softness, passion and tenderness. So well crafted!
“So serious, a tenderness there, I knew I could trust
And your every touch both a question and a match
setting me aflame”
Oh my goodness, Sharon. Oh. My. Goodness. Makes my heart race!
Smiling in Shades of Blue
The sky’s
got a twinkle in her
(star-struck)
eyes, a certain slant of
moon sliver holding
midnight court with breeze.
These trees
have got some secrets and they
(wind-whisper)
in leafy tongues some song
we’ve seldom sung,
to make us smile.
These blues
are self-azured and we are
(indigo-bled)
cobalt savvy silent
and wave slaphappy
in our own bright skin.
Begin,
and grin.
Be true.
Infused with blue.
gorgeous! I enjoy sharing your work with my daughters. You have a special style all your own, that just keeps on wowing the reader! thank-you again.
You’re not kidding! I’d recognize my De anywhere. Nobody does romance better than Walt, and nobody plays with words better than De, IMHO.
Case in point: Self-azured. WOW. WOW!
Oh, so much to love here – “blues are self-azured and we are (indigo-bled)/cobalt savvy silent” – stuck with me in particular. As always, your word-play is superb … it’s really good to be back reading your work again, De.
Love your blues, De. So lovely!
[…] Poetic Bloomings is hosting a fun poem-a-day gig for July. Come […]
My favorite color, blue! And you paint it so incredibly well, De!
[…] Shared at Poetic Bloomings: AN ENTERTAINING SUMMER – DAY #2: SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT […]
You can see my poem, with accompanying photo, here:
NIGHT LIGHTS
Midsummer
finds me looking to
the night sky.
Sparks of light,
followed by our ooohs and ahhhhs,
always bring a smile.
Quite the poetic display, Paula! Flashes of incendiary brilliance. In keeping with the season!
Nice! Love the title, and makes me think it would be a great children’s poetry book title.
[…] theme for Poetic Bloomings, Day 2, is smiles of a summer night. I trust that, though is was morning here when this came to mind, it […]
Playing catch-up for Day 2. Sorry, I did morning instead of night.
Hope to catch up by Tuesday after the holiday here in the USA
[…] POETIC BLOOMINGS “An Entertaining Summer” July P.A.D. – Day #2: Smiles of a Summer… […]
A Moon, A Quarter Full
There is something magical
about the moon at night,
whether she winking
or full and bright.
When she’s barely there
you can hardly see
but the stars so bright,
man, what a sight.
And when she’s full
your way is lit,
the creatures of the night
give less of a fright.
Babies are born
and owls give a hoot,
lips meet, it feels so right
under the moon and the whispers of the night.
A beauty Michelle, and welcome back! Great to find your words back amongst us!
Thank you! I’m happy to be back after a busy spring!