New Poem

I got one of those random emails inviting submission of a poem for a contest. Why not, I thought. What could it hurt? Last time I submitted a poem to a contest, it got published - on the first page of an anthology no less! This contest is for online publishing. I looked at the site (narrativemagazine.com) and found lots of activity by published authors. Not sure if this is legit, but I decided to give it a whirl. Here is the poem I wrote. I have no idea whether this is acceptable to the wide world of poets. I read their stuff and find it obtuse and puzzling. My poems are neither. At least not to me. So this is likely not up to their standards, but it would be interesting to see what they think of it. Who knows? See what you think. I give you . . .

Winter

If only I had known that summer was so short

I would have lain on warm sandy beaches for days, listening to pounding surf;

Played Frisbee golf every time my friends invited me;

Licked chocolate soft ice cream cones every day.

If only I had realized the change in the air,

Seen the warning of falling leaves,

Known that time was fleeing,

I would have floated in the swimming pool longer, listening to birds calling each other;

Taken lots of leisurely languorous walks with my darling dog;

Picked bountiful bouquets of beautiful flowers.

If only I had seen the coming frozenness of winter

I would have grilled pounds and pounds of strip steaks,

Let the juice of munched-on watermelon run down my arms and off my elbows,

Crunched butter drenched corn off steaming cobs,

Bitten deeply into bursting tomatoes, fresh and sun-warmed from the garden, dirt and all;

Luxuriated in lazy long walks with my lover,

Kissed softly and lingeringly, hands lightly brushing. 

If only . . .

If only I had known.