I Dream of the Sun

This poem was written for a contest entry - the lines in orange are the prompt lines which must be included in the poem


I dream of the sun

I ache to remember
The hot rays of the sun
Reach out and feel my body
Relax in to the warm sand.

In this never ending winter
My Christmas tan is fading fast
Beneath excessive layers
And a dull façade.

Spring has arrived in England –
Bringing blocked roads and dead flowers .
I despair of the hours
And find only misery at the beach.

My body is stiff with cold,
My emotions jaded,
My memories deftly faded
Into someone else’s photo book –

A picture in a magazine,
I can barely look!
Or dare to imagine
A world where summer prevails

As only winter I inhale.
My longing is a hungry appetite
For slowly bronzing skin
On a beach in the sunlight.

This poem is 24 lines long.