Summer Breathes

Summer breathes

it sighs down my neck

it whispers cool remembrances in the night

in the night, there is escape

sometimes a breeze

perhaps a rainstorm to cool and dry the air

but morning thaws

and afternoon grows heavy and long

in the house, there is little movement

some sleep

some watch the clock

tick tock, tick tock

cuckoo

and I try not to move, not to sweat

outside, children frolic in pools

and run out of houses slurping and sloshing

with fruit running down their arms

while others engage themselves in the great

pursuit of skin cancer

and I sit silently in reflection

I lie like a cat in the afternoon heat

a thought can last a million years

when summer breathes

- June 22, 1984, A.D.