Summer
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honeysuckle and barbecue fill the warm night air
mosquitos sting bare ankles
as dusk descends so does the town on dairy queen
porches become inhabited by grandparents
cicadas buzz, cars crunch gravel, air conditioners hum
kids are out until nine
teenagers until after one
young lovers greet the sunrise hand in hand
union pacific lazes by on the tracks
too hot to hurry towards st louis
fat moon sits on the treetops

empty beer bottles lurk in waist-high weeds
undusted railings, empty-eyed rooms
a slight depression hits the bars
and the lingering graduate students
morning groundskeepers reseed grass and clover
the college kids have gone
the town exhales

5/16/98