What ever happened to the summers when it seemed as if I had all the time in the world?

And I was overjoyed and never felt guilty?

To stay up late at night and sleep in till the afternoon,

To lie either out on the hammock or on my bed with my music playing in my ears,

To ride my bike on occasion around my neighborhood,

To swing and sing to my heart's content on my favorite swing in the backyard,

To pick from all the books at my fingertips to read,

To swim in the pool almost every day and for so long that it turned those very fingertips pruny

(Even after the chlorinated water was switched to saltwater.)

Everything was so simple then…

When the demand for work wasn't anywhere on my mind,

Until it came along and overtook what made the past summers really special.

Now, here I am, restless,

A whole month since the semester's end,

With no job lined up for me this time around (so far),

My bike dusty and its tires at first flat but blown up as of recently,

My swing replaced by four new ones but always covered in spiderwebs,

My book collection grown to over two whole cases but still mostly unread,

My pool still foggy green but on the verge of being restored to its former clear blue glory.

My idea of summer may not be restored the same way my pool could,

Though the saltwater generator causes trouble each year,

For me now, it should be a time to relax, reflect, even rebuild,

And with a little hope, recreate into something better.