106 degrees and Counting Plus a Poem

It's too hot to say anything, but coming up in future blogs are reviews of Heid Erdrich, Kathleen George, Paul Doiron, and Julia Spencer-Fleming, among others, and an interview with Joy Castro.

Try to stay cool! And if you're anywhere near the wildfires in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, or on the Northern Cheyenne Rez, sending you blessings. Please stay safe!

A poem for these hot times.


BLAME IT ON SUMMER
that I smile too widely,grinning really, and laughtoo loud and often; that I walkwith spring and sensual sway;that I stretch myself and twistlike a catbaking in the backyardbrightness; that my brain is sun-bleached,all rule and thought boiled away, leavingonly sensory steam;that my feverish eyes see strange dancingflames in afternoon shadowsalong the sides of streets and Bedouin oases, fragrantwith dates and goats and acrid desert waters,in every suburban garden we passwhile you argue and driveand I stare, heavy-brained with heatand too aware of my own bodyand every other;that I take a lover,brazenly, crazily,too sun-stupid to be careful,in my dreams.

Published in Heart's Migration (Tia Chucha Press)