Summerness

There’s no summer in Florida
Not the summer that I love

Outside summer
A bike ride to the ice cream counter
In the flower shop: Blossoms and Bows
For two scoops of Wisconsin-made,
Thick and creamy, maple ice cream

Or a float on the lake and a soak
In the sun on an orange inner-tube
At the end of the dock
Covered in sun-screen
Shades sliding off the end of my nose

Or popsicles at the softball diamond
Red and white and blue
Cold and sweet and summer
Sunflower seed spitting on the bleachers
And the crack of the ball on the bat

Or a drive along Hwy KK
Windows down
Sweet songs slipping through the sunroof
And into the summerness
On a Tuesday

Or an afternoon on a park bench
Throwing pennies In the fountain
And snapping pictures of the tulips
And each other
So we never forget

Or the walk back in the warm dark rain
No umbrellas
Shoes in our pockets and jeans rolled up
The black-topped road hot on our bare feet
Fleeing from summer thunder

Or a bonfire
Reflected in the faces
Of friends across the pit
Hands in our kangaroo pockets
Warm and dry and summer

Or a night in the grass of the soccer field
Beneath the water tower—star gazing
Flat on our backs on a patchwork quilt
Licking plum juice from our fingers
And swatting at busy, buzzy mosquitoes.

Or falling asleep at night
To the sweeter songs
Of crickets and bullfrogs
And the train in the distance
Through the screen

On my
Open
Window.