I steady kiss the summer. 
Indulge in red wine & chocolate.

Skin drip on concrete.
Dehydration balances

the afternoon sun in the palm
of its hand & thumps my forehead

with the other. Where have you been
all my life? We ask ourselves, 

like a meadow asks for rain.
Wash me like the meadow.

Wet away the insects & twigs  
& dead grass & trash,

the heat, the fumes, the time
it takes to cleanse. So much time.  

At the edge of the meadow,  
the rain pools before it evaporates.