This spittoon of a day
claws into the sky
& wrings out a heat index
of 96 degrees
We all do
backstrokes in the pool
of community sweat,
heat strokes
on the asphalt
Like an ancient curmudgeon,
the sun is
hollering at us
for existing
Get off the lawn
Use inside voices
Bite your tongues and
lips
and hot ghosts
It’s a center of the earth
kind of afternoon
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