dry lightning wildfire smoke burns my lungs

w. f. owen

river bend she squeezes the water from her hair

w. f. owen

passing clouds a foul ball into the stands

w. f. owen

heat lightning the pitcher balks

w. f. owen

shutting his pocketknife we have a serious talk

w. f. owen

hot afternoon the dog marks the yard

w. f. owen

heat wave skipping the Frisbee off the sand

w. f. owen

wildfire smoke the worker shovels red dirt

w. f. owen

a green persimmon drops her young cancer

w. f. owen

first summer day ice cream drips down her arm

w. f. owen

solstice morning adding water to the pool

w. f. owen


[See more solstice poems in "comments"
for the last few posts].

longest day a burnt wiener at the back of the grill

w. f. owen

drought he loosens the rope from boat to dock

w. f. owen

heat wave my thumb sprays water from the hose

w. f. owen

on the curb a dead bird folds into itself

w. f. owen

hot sun a ball gets loose from the bullpen

w. f. owen

we reach the peak thunderheads outdo each other

w. f. owen

Father's Day
wearing his tie
again I don't measure up

w. f. owen

Frogpond, XXX (Number 3), 2007, p. 41)

hot night the sound of bare feet on concrete

w. f. owen

blowing soap bubbles my son's enlarged face

w. f. owen

ebb tide discovering new things about myself

w. f. owen

waves of heat her tongue circles the ice cream

w. f. owen

incoming tide she rubs tanning oil on his back

w. f. owen

one boat on the lake rising moon

w. f. owen

long trip the flat bottom of a tomato

w. f. owen

grass grows around the camp's water faucet

w. f. owen

soap bubbles and giggles float over the fence

w. f. owen
Mainichi Daily News (Tokyo), June 2008

distant thunder a crab hangs from the chicken neck

w. f. owen

the beach ball blown out of the pool solar winds

w. f. owen

watermelon rind the gap between his teeth

w. f. owen

flip-flops outside the tent giggles

w. f. owen

no clouds in the sky a fly on my face

w. f. owen

my summer shirt a faded memory

w. f. owen

a different poem from the same experience:

summer wind the dark underside of my shirt

w. f. owen

wispy clouds a whiff of morning glory

w. f. owen

drought a dried plug in the sunscreen spout

w. f. owen

hot afternoon static from the radio

w. f. owen

evening calm grandpa trues the knives

w. f. owen

the barefoot boy drags his fish

w. f. owen

rabbit droppings in the trail a stack of stones

w. f. owen