Short Summer

My paternal grandmother, Flora Kangas Manninen, was a poet and I cherish her beautiful words that have been passed down in our family. Many of her poems are about flowers and the seasons of life at Otter Lake.

Short Summer
a poem by Flora Manninen

I love these quiet autumn days
when nature seems to pause and look behind
at the summer that has passed.
Consolation perhaps to find
for things that we have missed.

Was spring slow and loth to leave
and give way to summer joy?
Did robins have to hurry so
to build their nest in time?
And in their fussy bustling 
did they have to shiver in the snow?

Were violets late, did gardeners rate, 
was the fishing season slow?

Yes, the summer was short
that we know, and so we get
some lovely, peaceful autumn days
to bask in, and to count our joys
in all the sweetness passed. 

For briefest joys, are sweetest, 
And so the summer goes.

- Flora Kangas Manninen