Crisp (Part I)

Crisp as the air
in summer's glee,
as the arm of the shirt,
as the shirt's sleeve.
Crisp as the bill
of the young man's hat,
as the bite of the flakes
in the young man's vat.
Crisp as the bill,
the other one found
in a wallet full
of giant green mounds.
Crisp as the wine
consumed with such vigor
to cap off a day
for the newly christened winner.

An Evening with a Friend

Having a lovely evening
with you, my friend,
a breezy summer one
I wish wouldn't end.
It started with a fire,
a burst of flame in the air.
The heat caught you
as you began to glow there.
I enjoyed myself
thoroughly as you diminished
wondering if and thinking that
we would never be finished.
Slowly but ever-so-surely
you began to shrink
as my lungs did fill and our time
did gradually near the brink,
yet my brain was overcome
with an extreme relaxation
as my body lounged in its chair
embracing such a sensation.
My heart was loving this
experience together again
until my eyes looked down
to discover we were near the end.
Against my will
and all my wishes
the final ashes fall
with a wrist's final twitches,
the discarding of a friend
with whom a night is shared
until I pick up another one
and the experience is repeated there.

Field Day

One of their favorite days of the years,
a time for smiles and a time for cheers,
voices loud and screams abounding,
competition and team support surrounding;
the sun beating down on their little backs
as swarms of competitors hurl their attacks,
they jump and run and duck and dive
in a setting in which they have never felt more alive.
The kids' competitive juices going
and the will to do whatever it takes flowing,
they are ready to win no matter the cost
and cannot even imagine the races lost.
This is the one day where they always
leave it all out there to remember for all days.
They laugh and joke with all in line
and revel in a time that could not be more fine.
As if far wiser than their days would suggest,
they revel in the moments that they will remember as the best.
They enjoy the times that they will later miss
but appreciate them fully in these seconds of bliss.
A day outside that is so much better today
than any day before it in every possible way,
they will not soon forget what they are currently so thankful for
as this field day seems serves as a launching pad for lives to show so much more.

The Day's Heat

It is so hot in here
and everywhere else I go.
Whether the sun is on me or not,
I cannot escape the effects of its glow.
My skin is moist with the condensation
caused by my body's overheat
that occurs almost every day now
escaping this temperature is my only longing feat.
I briefly complained in the cold,
complaints I would happily take back
if only I knew at the time
what would shortly follow in the form of a flaming attack.
My feet stick together
as they simply draw near to one another
like Siamese twins that cannot
ever escape the presence of their own brother.
My clothes that I cannot currently shed
but wish more than anything that I could
stick to me so much worse than
the termites on their evening's dinner wood.
My focus on whatever task may arise
swiftly leaves me without a chance
of completing whatever may be my duty
before I can even gather a glance.
I search out of my current box
to find comfort in a cooler setting
only to discover that hunt is futile
as my pours continue their uncontrollable sweating.
My mind's paralysis stays with me
as ideas to break through this stage
flee from my brain so quickly
I don't have the slightest chance to engage.
The day's heat has sucked the life
out of a being that felt so much just weeks ago
with no tool but a ball in the sky
and a discomfort turned debilitation that will only grow.