Yötön Yö*

The fluttering ribbon of blue
outside my window deepens
but holds fast to the birches.

I welcome a thirst for black cherries
bursting over my hands,
blooded with the waiting abundance.

Beyond, in a rhythm I can’t understand
bonfires blaze on the shores,
fed by the dancing wind of wildflowers
as the country eases back
beneath the slow whirl of sky.

*Finnish for nightless night, Juhannus, midsummer

Gerry Stewart is a poet, creative writing tutor and editor based in Finland. Her poetry collection Post-Holiday Blues was published by Flambard Press, UK. In 2019 she won the ‘Selected or Neglected Collection Competition’ with Hedgehog Poetry Press for her collection Totems. Her writing blog can be found at http://thistlewren.blogspot.fi/ and @grimalkingerry on Twitter.