The Longest Day – One Month Gone ..

For the last month, I’ve sometimes been a bit grumpy in the evening. It’s the same every year. The longest day comes … and then goes. And inexorably, the days get shorter and I’m reminded that winter’s on its way. I enjoy the season: the gaunt skeletal outlines of trees, the chill in the air. But I really don’t like the short days and the endlessly long nights that come with winter.

So when this week’s #Tanka Tuesday issued the challenge to write a syllabic poem entitled The Longest Day, I knew exactly what to write about, and chose to use the nonet form: a nine-line poem, that goes from 9 syllables in the first line, down to one in the last line.

The Longest Day

The longest day is one month past and

each day is shorter than the last, 

as now the nights grow longer

and winter edges in.

It’s dismal knowing

summer’s going.

Sunny days

almost …

gone.

For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday, and

Colleen’s Word Craft Poetry.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

67 thoughts on “The Longest Day – One Month Gone ..”

    1. We’re going to be Awfully British. Going to Yorkshire Sculpture Park while, currently, it’s chucking it down. Better luck to you!

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  4. Oh, love the poppies, and your poem is great….but the gloom of the current weather for you Awfully British Yorkshire people….. we have no rain in the forecast…At All

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  5. Well that form absolutely does the job, Margaret. I share your feelings too. July’s end especially gives me the hump. And this year too, with lack of rain, everywhere is too fast tending towards the autumnal and fag-endy.

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    1. The lack of rain has suddenly stopped here. With the Spanish side of the family’s arrival in the UK, northern England has decided to live down to its reputation. I don’t think even the farmers are happy, because it’s harvest time.

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  6. I do wonder what that feels like. Long nights, short nights? We have almost exactly 12hrs per night and day all year round. It’s comfortable, the balance. But I’m always intrigued by the literal long nights, we here on the equator only use that in a figurative sense.
    Awesome nonet.

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    1. Thank you! For my part, I was discomfited when I travelled near the equator to find day and night of equal length, and also that twilight, which with us is a pretty long-drawn out affair, almost didn’t exist there. I came home and talked to my friends about how odd it would be to have daylight the same length day in, day out. It’s all about what we’re used to, I guess!

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      1. Yeah sunset and sunrise last exactly an hour. I guess it is about what we are used to. Someone once told me that a huge reason the North developed faster than the tropics was the need to survive and thrive in extreme weather. Alas the climate effects from that affect us all.

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  7. Oh, those last three lines! I struggle with winter darkness. I have to keep reminding myself that October is often lovely and April holds the promise of spring which makes it feel shorter.

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  9. A perfect poem and form for the season. I don’t like the idea of nights drawing in either. Even though I like much about the sensory character of autumn, I’m never eager for it to come.

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  10. Margaret, your post this morning touched a chord. I am not sure if I am grumpy or anxious, though nothing comes close to the anxiety I felt in the summer of 2020 when summer was filled with uncertainty about the year ahead. Though winter seems far away, it will be here soon enough. This summer has been amazing and a fortnight remains before I am back to school. Yes, those last three lines…. sunny days almost gone. Keep making your days count, peace.

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    1. Yes, though I like aspects of winter well enough, I don’t need to be reminded yet that it’s on its way. Which is what the shortening days do. Happy end-of-holidays!

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  12. Really clever poem, I’m very impressed. I know what you mean about the nights drawing in but actually I prefer September to the hot summer months so I’m consolable 😀

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  13. Winter does indeed ‘edge in’, doesn’t she? Hopefully some nice Autumn days first though- crisp days and cool nights, the sign to start and get cosy.

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  14. A great nonet – you are a clever lady! I’m the same with the nights drawing in, I always think of July as similar to May which I love, but August is like April without all the promise of new life and like Tish wisely said, a bit fag-endy! Facing west as we do I notice that where the sun sets is already moving back to the south quite quickly.

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  18. A great poem! I share your pain. I didn’t mind the cold when I lived in the UK but I HATED the darkness that arrived so early (sometimes 3:30pm) which made the nights so l o n g 😩

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  21. I often hear the lament of Northerners that summer is over, but when there are as many flies as there are here, I breathe a sigh of relief to feel the cooler weather start. Lovely words, Margaret! I like the format!
    Btw, I had to load google chrome to be able to post this comment. It would not let me post it in Mozilla Firefox. Weird.

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    1. Odd indeed. I don’t use Firefox myself, so can’t comment. Oh, you have flies do you? In that case I sympathise. Scotland is a no-go area for me at this time of year for that reason.

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      3. I really thought you would be safe from the blighters up there. Now I know there is nowhere safe in summer. Although I think it would be hard to find a worse place than the Aussie outback.

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  22. My favorite seasons are Autumn, Spring, Winter then Summer. The bugs dine on me so I look forward to the first frost in Autumn. But then each season has its mysteries and wonders. Cheers, Jules

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    1. You’re right, Jules, every season has its ups and downs. I don’t have a favourite season, but I do have a favourite month – May. Everything’s fresh and new, it’s warming up nicely, and the days, crucially, are getting longer.

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