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.