The Loggia

By Peter Halstead

Summer sits in sunken ditches
On rows of roses and leaf piles,
On pergolas and lattices,

Where perennials dress
Capriciously lit sundials
In age-old niches,

Their rootbound wishes
As immortal
As their petals are deciduous,

The hazy, bleached-out terrace
Ephemeral, maybe,
But timeless nonetheless.

June 24th, 2025, Kaiholu

Explanation

Thinking about our friend Joe Dowling’s wonderful father, who had just died, I wrote this about an old garden we once had, overgrown with roses and vines, but never too far away from our thoughts of our time in North Castle.