Ten Poems for Summer

There seem to be fewer poems about summer than about other seasons. Perhaps the impulse to be outdoors when the weather is at its best goes against the inward mood that writing poems requires. This makes poetry about summer all the more glorious – each poem in this mini-anthology is like a rare, bright jewel that shines with the season’s own brief intensity: “Summer was wealthy with a daze of suntraps, Daffodil-spitting, sumptuous. Everywhere Ours for the taking.” from ‘Woodniche’ by Aidan Carl Mathews. The selection takes us into gardens, fields, forests and up onto city rooftops – sharing an exuberant delight in those precious few months when the natural world seems to wear its heart on its sleeve. Selected by Di Slaney and Katharine Towers.