My favorite season is summer. How can one not wax poetic about balmy nights or floating languidly on a winding river? I like that I do less laundry in the summer because I don't have to pile on all the layers that other seasons demand. Summer seems to me the perfect time to take a poem to heart. The days are longer and it is too hot to hurry about at a frenzied pace.
By taking a poem to heart one makes a friend of the poem. To quote a few lines from the British poet Simon Armitage, "The poems we learn when we're young stay with us for the rest of our lives. They become embedded in our thinking, and when we bring them to mind, or to our lips, they remind us who we are as people, and the things we believe in. They become personal and invaluable, and what's more they are free gifts- there for the taking. We call it learning by heart, and I think such learning can only make our hearts bigger and stronger."
If you have a young friend why not share a poem and memorize it together. They will receive a gift that will last their lifetime and maybe even start a habit that they will carry forward and share with a future generation.
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