July 2019

Summertime, and the living is so easy that it’s alarming.
Send help.
I indulge in the daily diner breakfast
I drink my coffee slow
I sip long, long after the plates are cleared
And the mud and the mug have matched one another’s temperature
And Julie runs my card, $6.40, two dollar tip
And Julie gestures, lifting the pot with the brown handle
A warmup pour?
You bet your goddamn ass, hell yes!
Summer!
I read on the stone balustrade by the beach in the late morning
I shoot pool at Flat Top at noon, any table I want
A rack on the fast felt
A rack on the table by the couch
A rack on the table by the bar
Read in the court yard on the polywood Adirondack chairs
Work on the tan
I grab an Oat ‘Tado at Pavement so I can use their nice bathrooms
I exchange hellos with the homies and feel part of something
I take advantage of the lunch specials at Oppa
I go to the cafes that close before I get off work
I get whatever latte so I can use the nice bathroom at that kinda whack spot in the old Masonic Lodge by the Common
Goddamn those bathrooms are nice
I struggle to save money
I appreciate my lifestyle
I resent my lifestyle
I struggle to save money
I embrace my lifestyle
I struggle with my lifestyle
I am my lifestyle
I read by the Charles in the sun
I read by the Charles in the shade
I eat dinner between chapters
I get to the gig, I get tired and I leave when I want and I don’t feel bad about it
It’s summer, goddamnit.
I go home when it’s time to go home
Yes I’ll watch another episode of Chernobyl
There’s only five episodes
Save some for later
I park in Central Square and walk towards the river, to the fireworks spectacular
The lady on stage talks a LOT about the military
I walk back
I don’t need to see the fireworks
The summer itself lights up my summer, exploding into colorful bands of my summer, gentle sparkling summers sprinkling into my summer’s summer
SUMMER!!!
I surprise you at your house
And l know now again that we aren’t getting back together
For real this time, as last
Your neighbor’s fireworks make it hard to embody our sadness
So we laugh instead
They just keep going off.
They hit a house
I can’t tell if the smoke is coming from the house
It hurts so bad
But it’s so easy
With you
Even the heartbreak perennials poking their heads out of the soil for another round smile when they remember
We’re still here
We are still here
In each other’s lives
We look cute in our cutoffs
We enjoy the weather
We laugh some more
It’s going to be okay.
You go to bed, sweetly
I drive home, sweetly
Windows down
I don’t relate as much to those sad Pup songs now
And...No construction on 93 tonight
A July miracle
The neighbors are still up
Glass of room temperature water
Yes I’ll watch another episode of Chernobyl
Damnit
Summertime and the living is so easy it’s alarming
I retroactively leave the hurt in snowy Maine in January
I’ll develop the pictures eventually
But for now, it’s tomorrow again
And I crack open a new book
Feet in the Charles in the sun
Feet in the Charles in the shade
And the poem continues
And the poem continues
And eventually I put it down for another lunch special
Or another episode of Chernobyl
Or another callback
And I’ll pick it back up later
I’m not worried
We’ll still be here