Poetry by KB Ballentine

A dream in midsummer lures
     each of us to those thin places
                       where we abandon our fear
     as sun and moon slip into their dance
of lights. We adore the mock-orange
                       sweetness anchored in our memories—
     ones we neglect through busy-ness.
Weary, we welcome this longest day,
                       grumble of darkness faint for now.
Soon, Hercules will usher Scorpius
     across the night horizon. But tonight,
if we listen, we can hear the dead speak.


KB Ballentine’s newest collection is All the Way Through (Sheila-Na-Gig Inc., 2024). She has eight previous poetry collections and was recently awarded Poetry Society of Tennessee’s 2025 Best of the Fest and Writer’s Digest November 2024 PAD Chapbook Challenge. Learn more at www.kbballentine.com.