Thoughts on August

You are August’s child born in the heart 

and the heat       of the summer you braid silver

tinsel into the roots of your goldenrod hair 

and pretend not to notice the sun bleeding       out 

of you and pooling onto the floor. You ladle up

the light         hem it back into your heart      back into

the place you kept your love        for art deco dishware

and your mother and the temperature        she once took

her rooibos tea. You love the way it feels

to miss her       to miss anyone or to know that something is

missing and want it      to come back. You are of that feeling

you are the way it feels to feel      warm air against your back

to know     that someday      you will want it       back.

Violet Baker is a writer from New Jersey. Her work has been recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing, as well as published in her school’s on-campus literary magazine, The Red Wheelbarrow. Her one act plays have been performed at The Growing Stage State Theatre of New Jersey, Stageworks Theatre and The Traverse City Opera House. Her one act plays have also been selected as semi-finalists for The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival. Violet currently studies creative writing at Interlochen Arts Academy, located in Northern Michigan.