summer heat – Shift Key

Haiku 48.21

I am staring at
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it is not helping

not a bird in sight
in this high heat just me and
a cup of hot tea

a cheeky cat thinks
we share my patio chair
looks like he’s night shift

it has been raining
on and off so many times
today I’ve lost count

if it weren’t for the
big drops falling from

the patio roof you

wouldn’t know the late
afternoon rain was there

a welcome breeze comes
and goes in the quiet

of this sweet lazy rain

rain soaked clumps of cut
grass dry in the heat of the
hot afternoon sun

the thunderstorm
bordered on violent
making everything

seem to go sideways

all I could hear after
it passed was the hard
straight-down rain

it left behind pelting
the lawns and flat open
fields as though they

were nothing more than
row after row and line
after line of

soggy sweaters laying
flat in the summer heat

rain
some sun
high heat
repeat

maybe a
breeze

rolling
thunder
sun in
retreat

rain
some sun
high heat
repeat

I have the breeze all
to myself and the neighbor’s

dog is curled up in the shade

I know he’s a smart dog
because he said that it is

even too hot to play chess

my stare said it all as I
told him I don’t play chess

he swatted the hot air and
didn’t miss a beat

you’re not that good at
checkers either

dog’s right

I’ve never been good at
dogs or playing games

or people now that I think
about it

a bird soars and floats
on the air unaware of
the clouds speeding by