106 degrees and Counting Plus a Poem

It's too hot to say anything, but coming up in future blogs are reviews of Heid Erdrich, Kathleen George, Paul Doiron, and Julia Spencer-Fleming, among others, and an interview with Joy Castro.

Try to stay cool! And if you're anywhere near the wildfires in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, or on the Northern Cheyenne Rez, sending you blessings. Please stay safe!

A poem for these hot times.

BLAME IT ON SUMMER

that I smile too widely,

grinning really, and laugh

too loud and often; that I walk

with spring and sensual sway;

that I stretch myself and twist

like a cat

baking in the backyard

brightness; that my brain is sun-bleached,

all rule and thought boiled away, leaving

only sensory steam;

that my feverish eyes see strange dancing

flames in afternoon shadows

along the sides of streets and Bedouin oases, fragrant

with dates and goats and acrid desert waters,

in every suburban garden we pass

while you argue and drive

and I stare, heavy-brained with heat

and too aware of my own body

and every other;

that I take a lover,

brazenly, crazily,

too sun-stupid to be careful,

in my dreams.

Published in Heart's Migration (Tia Chucha Press)