In and Beyond

 In summer there are clever places that hold storms and sun-streaks entangled forces nourishing paradox of the thirstiest kind

In summer the rain can fall hot onto pavement and the carrots taste a little like dirt making everything organically better

In summer my fingers carry essence of Romas and plates of basil to picnics of poison ivy near the lake's unending beck and call

In summer campfires conjure whiskey truth or dares foreshadowing forest favors of autumn's gateway to the pinnacle preceding unwanted paths

In summer I try to forget how you are beyond the hands of man slipping in and out as ancient lovers do for the sake of ending