Xiazhi (Summer solstice)

The sun’s last smiles

Gradually the light also dims
The grains ripen into summer
Habitually the fight also ends
The muscles trade tension for torpor
Solemnly the moon holds
the sun’s last smiles
While home I walk
the last few miles.

Dr T.P. Wilkinson writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is also the author of Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..