Falling in Love With Summer

Summer is asphalt and 

old-school hip-hop and 

naturally, cicadas. Of course.

Rolling my eyes and hiding out inside

because it’s been a while since I lived

in the city, stuck out miles away 

in a town ‘neath the mountains

where the only City is 

four blocks of a single street. 

That is not summer. What summer is,

Is fans and open windows

because the AC costs money

and money’s for 

nighttime movies,

smoothies, and 

lifestyle-affirming impulse purchases.

Summer is the commute from

Home to Not-home, two-hundred and seventy 

Things To Bitch About,

blades of crunchy grass,

and the absolute stillness of the air.