Southern Summer Sunday

southern summers do not end

until October

three more months of windless days

and green heat

basketballs thump in the park

children laugh

down the street a mower tames

unruly grass

no hurricane spins offshore today

no incessant rains

I sit with a book and listen to Sunday

simmer in the shade

you may quarrel with me about

six months of summer

but I have hunkered down in winter’s grip

and much prefer that

southern summers do not end

until October

8-24-25