Vacation Poems

The idea of summer often brings to mind thoughts of vacation—whether it's a long-awaited escape to the beach, a spontaneous road trip, or the simple joy of unstructured days. For me, it's the thrill of mapping out a getaway and the freedom to wander. Whatever travel memories or restful moments summer evokes for you, we hope you’ll find something familiar in the vacation-inspired poems featured below.

He showed his vacation to his camera, which pictured it, preserving it forever//the river, the trees,
the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat
behind which he stood with his camera
preserving his vacation even as he was having it
so that after he had had it he would still
have it.
“The Vacation” by Wendell Berry

When she stops to rest,
summer rests.
When she decides to leave,
there goes summer
over the hill.
“Girl Riding a Horse in a Field of Sunflowers” by David Allan Evans

Warm summer sun//Shine kindly here 
“Warm Summer Sun” by Mark Twain

And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
“Recuerdo” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Now the dark waters at the bow
fold back, like earth against the plow;   
foam brightens like the dogwood now
   at home, in my own country.
“The Long Voyage” by Malcolm Cowley

My head is in the pineapple-smelling clouds//
My feet are in the pineapple-smelling water
“The Journey” by Rüştü Onur

But thy eternal summer shall not fade
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” by William Shakespeare