Poetry

EXTREME HEAT

SAVE POWER 4-9 PM

STAY COOL

The highway signs yell,

Instead of what they’ve mostly said lately:

EXTREME DROUGHT

LIMIT OUTDOOR WATERING

I water my succulents anyway

My few flowers, to feed the bees

Increments of carbon taken out of the air

by every weed that grows

in my apartment’s lawn made of rocks

The official facebooks and twitters of elected officials

are full of info from the National Weather Service.

How I know:

The asphalt under my tires

can get within 15 degrees

of instantly melting human flesh

when it’s only 102

& brown grass can get up to 120

I guess no one went outside to measure

when it’s 115 degrees, like it’s about to be

For days

“Avoid being outdoors in the sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If you have Air Conditioning, use it. Fans may not be adequate.

Cooling stations will be set up . . .”

My clothes are filthy from work & sweat

A cold shower awaits me at home

We’ve made it all summer, no fires near enough

we had to shut ourselves in for the air quality

We’ve mastered the art of flipping curtains,

pointing fans, shiny things in the windows to reflect the sun

beating on the walls, dodging the cloudless sky

It’s September 3rd .

We give in.

Turn on the A/C.