Back in the day

Poetry

Slurpee

July heat broils blacktop, tar
Bubbles and putties our shoes.

Dog days at the pool, hair
bleached duckling blonde.

Long, hot days require refreshment. Quarters ching
for too-sweet slush.

Forgotten in a 32-ounce brain-freeze,
Bikes lay untethered, abandoned.

These are waning moments. Soon
School bells sound

A cranky ring.
No place

For a summer-feral fifth-grader
Who's almost forgotten how to write,

Sharp new pencil in his
Calloused hand.