I'm going to reply to myself here as I may have completely misinterpreted this poem, Brandon! Being from the cold wet climes of Northern Ireland, we don't have outdoor pools, so when I read this I imagined a garden pool in Florida where it is so hot that even the machine that cleans the pool can just about crawl along! I associated 'dog days' with lethargy and lack of energy due to extreme heat. In fact, the opening scenes of the Ben Kingsley / Ray Winston film 'Sexy Beast' came to mind as soon as I read this.
Brandon, I really enjoy this – especially since we in the southern hemisphere are moving into spring and summer and I can look forward to warm days and swimming pools!
The mention of the "pool vacuum" is particularly vivid for me, since my own family never had a pool, and it was only when we came to the city every summer and stayed with my aunt and uncle and cousins, we enjoyed the use of their pool. I was always positively captivated by the trilobite-like vacuum cleaner that slowly chugged continually across the pool floor.
"dog days" isn't a common term used in Australia, though I am familiar with the expression. Apparently it relates to the ancient Roman belief that the hot weather in late summer is associated with the brightest star in the summer sky – Sirius – the "dog star".
But there is another connotation of "dog" that is used in Australia and which still fits perfectly with this poem: "dog paddle" – a basic swimming technique which many children appear to naturally discover when they are first starting to swim. It balances therefore the first line: 'the crawl" which invokes for me another swimming stroke – the "Australian crawl" now known as "freestyle".
So for me, the poem is all about summer at the poolside, remembering summers past, while watching the children play.
September 2nd, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Love it.
September 2nd, 2013 at 6:56 pm
Nice one.
seagull
skirts the parking lot
low tide
September 3rd, 2013 at 5:51 pm
Gorgeous birds!
flirting with the waves seagulls
Strider
September 6th, 2013 at 3:12 am
I love your haiku, Strider. I love seeing seagulls around here. They remind me of the beach.
September 3rd, 2013 at 2:20 am
An atmosphere of intense drudgery is well depicted in this.
marion
September 4th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
I'm going to reply to myself here as I may have completely misinterpreted this poem, Brandon! Being from the cold wet climes of Northern Ireland, we don't have outdoor pools, so when I read this I imagined a garden pool in Florida where it is so hot that even the machine that cleans the pool can just about crawl along! I associated 'dog days' with lethargy and lack of energy due to extreme heat. In fact, the opening scenes of the Ben Kingsley / Ray Winston film 'Sexy Beast' came to mind as soon as I read this.
That's all! :)
marion
September 3rd, 2013 at 5:47 am
Brandon, I really enjoy this – especially since we in the southern hemisphere are moving into spring and summer and I can look forward to warm days and swimming pools!
The mention of the "pool vacuum" is particularly vivid for me, since my own family never had a pool, and it was only when we came to the city every summer and stayed with my aunt and uncle and cousins, we enjoyed the use of their pool. I was always positively captivated by the trilobite-like vacuum cleaner that slowly chugged continually across the pool floor.
"dog days" isn't a common term used in Australia, though I am familiar with the expression. Apparently it relates to the ancient Roman belief that the hot weather in late summer is associated with the brightest star in the summer sky – Sirius – the "dog star".
But there is another connotation of "dog" that is used in Australia and which still fits perfectly with this poem: "dog paddle" – a basic swimming technique which many children appear to naturally discover when they are first starting to swim. It balances therefore the first line: 'the crawl" which invokes for me another swimming stroke – the "Australian crawl" now known as "freestyle".
So for me, the poem is all about summer at the poolside, remembering summers past, while watching the children play.
Thank you for conjuring it.
Strider
September 3rd, 2013 at 2:08 pm
the crawl
of the pool vacuum
dog days
—Brandon Bordelon
Great first two lines, packed with atmosphere.
The phrase dog days refers to the sultry days of summer, or about an Anime alternative world.
Could be part of an opening sentence of a novel or short story.
Alan, With Words
September 4th, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Dog Days
an end of summer sale
at the Petco
September 10th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
This is really awesome. thanks to share it here.
October 10th, 2013 at 12:10 am
I really like dog but i don't know this info about dog thank your sharing this great info.