Sunday doldrums

Two more weeks of classes until the end of the semester.

In my next stage of life, I will not grade a goddamn thing.

Remembered Heat

In Tucson the sky stretched for miles
and sunsets poured over mountains
in purple and red, like spilled wine,
and even late at night dragon breath
baked the houses into stunned stupor

Thorns, needles, stones, thunder,
pock pock pock of woodpeckers
drilling nests into saguaro, a bolt
of lightning, its crackle electrifying
the nostrils -- anticipation, anxiety

The August air, tense with insect scream,
dove cries, dry leaf rustles, the soft skid
of yellow dust and blazing wind, sucked
the sweat out of our skins before it could
bead up to provide any thought of relief